


The Secret Life of an Accelerated Teenager

by butterflycollective



Category: General Hospital
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-13
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-11-01 22:13:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/361847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflycollective/pseuds/butterflycollective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kristina went to sleep a young girl and woke up a  teenager. This is her story of how she navigates through the increasingly complex world of Port Charles through every disaster imaginable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Alexis walked in the living room and right into her daughter, Kristina. Her eyes widened as she realized that something mysterious had struck during the night while everyone in the house had been asleep. The night before, Alexis had tucked in a six-year-old girl exhausted after a day spent in the park flying her kite with her older half-sister Sam.

But what stood in front of her, wasn't a child but a teenager.

Kristina's long ebony locks had been cut off and styled during the night and she now wore them like soft curls reaching her shoulders. Make up adorned her usually freshly scrubbed face, from mascara outlining her long lashes to a soft shade of red painting her lips. Ears, double pierced and was that a belly ring flashing on the bare midriff of Kristina's tank top? What happened to her daughter? Who did this to her and where did she get these new clothes?

Alexis nearly passed out at the sight in front of her and when she felt the familiar sensation of breathlessness slip through her body, she sat down quickly and began taking long, well-practiced deep breaths that she had learned in Yoga. Kristina or at least what she believed to be her daughter paid no mind to her. She plopped on the couch and put the earphones on her iPod and began moving to the beat of some silent song.

_Where's a paper bag when you need it_ , Alexis thought frantically.

Saving that, where was her best frenemy Diane when she needed her? Oh that's right, Diane had gone off with her boy toy Max on a Las Vegas junket. Business not pleasure, Diane had told Alexis, but she'd winked her eye.

With a few deep breaths, her vision sharpened once again and her daughter reappeared in front of her. She had to think of something to say to her.

_Just breathe._

She pasted a forced smile on her face.

"Kristina…honey," she said, "You look so…."

Kristina hadn't heard her mother, so wrapped up in her music. Alexis moved closer, slowly still not sure that this actually was her daughter. Perhaps, this was yet another trick pulled on her by Helena Cassadine to drive her insane. But how could she pull something like this off?

Suddenly Kristina jumped off the couch and started dancing. Slow dancing, gyrating enough so that it made her mother blush. And she spun around finally in mid-beat and smacked right into her shocked mother.

Balancing herself to keep from falling, Kristina flipped her hair back and looked up.

"Mom…"

Alexis backed away .

"Is there anything wrong, Mom," Kristina said, "Because you're acting kinda strange."

Alexis smiled slowly.

"There's nothing wrong with Mommy, sweetheart," she said, "You just…I didn't know you were so... talented."

Kristina looked skeptical.

"I didn't make the cheer leading squad," she said, "At least not the A squad."

"That's too bad honey," a perplexed Alexis said, "but you could do something else, like run for student council."

Kristina stuck a finger down her throat and made a retching sound.

"Oh Mother please," she said, "Student government's for dweebs."

That silenced Alexis on several fronts. First, because Alexis had been president of her high school class in Switzerland so essentially in a roundabout way her own daughter had said she wasn't cool. The other being that she couldn't grasp the fact that her daughter who had just barely started elementary school not too long ago had in this reality, begun junior high.

"Have you had any breakfast yet," Alexis asked, still sitting on the couch trying deep breathing exercises.

Kristina shrugged.

"I got to blow," she said, "Lulu promised to pick me up."

Lulu? Oh, Luke's daughter. God, she never thought that the two girls who had a decade between them would be carpooling together. But then a memory grabbed her of a day not too long, okay maybe a couple of years ago when she had been in the hospital visiting Luke's daughter when she was dying of some sort of disease and needed some sort of transplant from a family member to save her life. Alexis remembered that it was her own nephew Nikolas who had been Laura's son that she had with Stavros Cassedine who had been hidden away from her. But Lulu had been a little girl back then. Had that much time really passed?

"But aren't you going to say goodbye," Alexis stood up.

Kristina tossed her back and gave her mother a wave before leaving the house. Alex sank back on the couch, her head spinning over the scene that had just played out. Who had taken her daughter away in the middle of the night and replaced her with an impostor. She almost reached for her phone to call Commissioner Matt Scorpio of the Port Charles Police Department to file a missing person's report but then thought, the lovely girl standing in front of her did look like her daughter would…if she were a teenager..which she now…Alexis was beginning to think she were crazy. Then a horrible thought hit her and she jumped off the couch to go check on her younger daughter Molly. She opened the bedroom door slowly, half expecting to see Molly getting dressed to go to Elementary school but instead, she breathed a sigh of relief and put her hand on her chest when she saw that Molly who had been a toddler when put to bed last night would wake up one. Still rattled, Alex walked past the liquor cabinet and shook her head before walking into the kitchen to boil herself some tea. While she waited for the kettle to boil, she reached for the phone.

* * *

Kristina climbed into Lulu's jeep and they left the house. As they sped down towards Port Charles Jr. High, Kristina searched through her purse for a cigarette and began to light up. Lulu turned around and wagged her finger.

"Don't you smell up my car," she said, "And what would your mother think if she knew you smoked, with her having had lung cancer?"

Kristina shrugged.

"She looked like she didn't even recognize me this morning," she said, "I wonder if it's the belly ring."

Lulu's jaw dropped.

"You went out and got it," she said.

Kristina nodded happily.

"It's like so cool," she said, "All the hot guys will like me."

Lulu turned on a side street.

"Any one in particular?"

Kristina's face flushed a bit.

"Maybe," she said, smiling.

"Does 'maybe' have a name," Lulu asked.

"Maybe," Kristina said, her smile turning into a mischievous look.

Lulu sighed.

"You're keeping it to yourself for now," she said, "That's cool."

Kristina reached in her purse for her lip gloss.

"My mom sure wouldn't be happy if she found out," she said, "She'd ground me or even worse send me to stay with my father."

"Sonny," Lulu said, "What's so bad about that? If you don't mind being surrounded by body guards."

"His crazy ex-wife keeps coming around and all his girlfriends," Kristina said, "I wonder how Mikey and Morgan survived it."

"Well, Mikey's recovering from his experimental brain surgery at General Hospital," Lulu said.

"Yeah I know," Kristina said, "I was going to go visit him after school but Bridezella's always there."

"You mean Claudia," Lulu said, laughing, "fitting nickname for her. I wonder how she snagged your father anyway."

Kristina felt like she should know and didn't. Like she missed something.

* * *

Alex dialed up Diane and caught her at the casino, playing a game of blackjack.

"What the hell are you doing calling me at this hour," Diane grumbled," I'm on a winning streak and Max is almost done with his business meeting so he's going to join me."

"It's Kristina," Alexis said, "She got older."

"What do you mean," Diane said, "Have you been hitting the scotch again…"

"No, no," Alexis said, "I know it sounds crazy but last night I put to bed a little girl and woke up this morning to find a teenager in my living room."

Diane paused.

"Oh that," she said.

"What do you mean, 'oh that'," Alexis demanded, "This is very serious."

"No it's not," Diane said, "It's just accelerated aging syndrome."

Alexis nearly dropped the phone.

"What?"

"It's not a medical condition," Diane said, "It's just that happens from time to time. I mean look at Michael, just one year ago, he was just starting puberty. Now, he's out of it and is a full-blooded rebellious teenager."

"Really," Alexis said, "So you think this is a genetic trait that might run in Sonny's family. That it's his fault?"

Diane sighed. Alexis could be so thick sometimes.

"No, it happens to other kids," Diane explained, "There are growth spurts and there are growth spurts."

"But I don't look old enough to have a daughter Kristina's age," Alexis said.

"Of course you don't," Diane soothed, "but these things just happen and as a parent, you're going to have to adjust."

Alexis ran her hand through her hair.

"But that means I'll have to get her a brand new wardrobe, redecorate her room…"

Alexis," Diane said patiently, "Go in her bedroom, look in her closets, and you'll find that your daughter isn't the only thing that's changed overnight."

"Oh my God," Alexis said, "I don't know whether to be repulsed by what you just said, or grateful that I won't have to max out another credit card."

Diane laughed.

"Oh I'd start hiding those credit cards if I were you," she said, "and locking up the liquor cabinet."

Alexis paused.

"I have a child-safety lock on it," she said, "Where am I going to find one that keeps out teenagers?"

Diane sighed, eager to get back to the blackjack dealer.

"You're going to have to figure out away," she said, "especially if Kristina's mind works anywhere like mine when I was her age."

"Damn, I'm going to have to do what I don't want to do and that's talk to her father about what's happened to our daughter."

"That would almost be worth coming back to PC to witness," Diane said, "but the dealer's calling. Got to go."

Alexis stared at her phone. Then the doorbell rang and though she didn't know it, her trouble had just began.

* * *

Kristina arrived at school and waited until Lulu had left, then she began walking in the opposite direction towards the seedier side of Port Charles. She walked past the pawn shops, smoke shops and watering holes until she found the one she wanted. She flipped her hair back and walked inside.

Coleman looked up from where he tended bar and started heading towards her.

"Honey, I told you that you can't come waltzing in here," he said, "Do you want me to lose my license?"

"Of course not," she said, looking around, "Besides, don't you bar owners work out some deal with the local cops to look the other way?"

Coleman smiled.

"Now that's nothing for you to be talking about," he said, "and besides, you can buy off a cop or two but that Mac Scorpio's as square as they come."

"Yeah, I noticed," Kristina said, stopping by the pool table, running her hands over the pool cues.

Coleman noticed her interest.

"Do you like to play," she said.

"My sister Sam taught me," she said, "but I was a little kid then."

He laughed.

"Time does sure fly, doesn't it," he said, "It seems like just yesterday, you were knee high."

"I felt like I was a little kid forever," she said, rolling her eyes, "just one endless rewind of a Nickelodeon version of _Groundhog Day_."

Suddenly, the door opened and he walked in. Kristina forgot all about her growing pains or the pool table for a moment.

Kristina's mouth hung open as the door opened and in came, Damien Spinelli, alias the Jackal, the genius who had taught her everything she needed to know about hacking into computer systems. She looked at him twice because he looked much different than the last time she could remember having seen him. He had combed his normally unruly hair back and looked like he had been hitting the weights, if not every day, maybe twice a week. Looking down, she saw the portrait that stood in front of her had been completed with matching socks! What had happened that she missed?

He looked equally surprised to see her.

"Lil Krissy," he said, with a smile on his face, "Interesting to see you here in an establishment of questionable repute."

"Hi Spinelli," she said, letting him pass her.

He looked at her again and frowned.

"I suspect I won't be able to call you Lil anymore," he said, "So we'll have to come up with a new name for you."

"Sure," Kristina said, putting her hands in her pockets, "Whatever."

He sized her up from her high heels to the twin sparkled clips she wore in her hair.

"You look so much older," he said, "Have you gone to The Fashionista and had a makeover?"

Kristina sneered.

"I wouldn't go near that witch if you paid me," she said, "Besides her clothes aren't all that."

Spinelli rubbed his fingers over his mouth.

"So what are you doing here," he asked, "Shouldn't fair young ones like yourself be in school at this time?"

Kristina shrugged.

"School is so over-rated," she said, "If I keep going, I'll end up like my mother."

"And that is a bad thing," Spinelli said.

Okay, so it was true Alexis came off as high-strung at times and downright neurotic at others, but it was nothing that a few minutes kicking back and smoking happy weed wouldn't fix. Not that he dealt in that kind of business anymore. Hacking and cyber espionage was a much more honorable line of work, not to mention lucrative. Plus it attracted more attractive and sexy women like Fair Maximista into his galaxy.

Kristina looked away from his probing glance.

"Nooooo," she said, "but my mother's so not cool. She wears these dorky suits all the time and hardly goes out and when she does, it's always with the craziest man in PC."

Spinelli couldn't argue with that either. Alexis' dating history read like a manual of _Mobsters, Terrorists and the Women who Love Them_. If Alexis ever chose to write that manual to help women everywhere avoid making her relationship mistakes, she probably would never have to practice law again and could live off the royalties not to mention the fellowship for winning the first joint Nobel Liberature and Nobel Peace Prize.

"Let's see, there were Dark Lancing the Younger, the Demented One and The Godfather, not necessarily in that order….and I get your point."

Kristina sighed and reached for her purse to refresh her lip gloss.

"Do you see what I have to live with," she said.

"Surely it's not that bad," Spinelli said, "but if you're not going to go to school, what will you do, Fair Truant?"

Kristina really hadn't given it much thought. All her planning had gone into figuring out whether to turn left or right when Lulu had let her out in front of the school.

"I hadn't really thought about it much," she said, "I could become a pool shark."

"Do you play the game," he asked.

"I don't know…," she said, "I suppose I would have to try it first. I guess if I have learned to play, it will soon come to me."

Coleman walked over to them.

"Are you and your jailbait girlfriend going to buy anything," he asked.

Kristina felt like kicking him.

"I'm not his girlfriend," she said.

Coleman raised his brows.

"And who are you looking for," he said.

Spinelli took a step backward.

"I'm looking for Mrs. Robinson…I mean The Colloquial Cousin…"

Coleman looked totally lost.

"Who the hell are you talking about," he said.

Spinelli cleared his throat.

"I believe she goes under the stage name of Olivia Falconeri."

* * *

Alexis opened the door thinking her day couldn't get any worse. What stood at the door put that thought away in the category of wishful thinking.

"Hi love," the man said, "Missed me?"

She hit him on the chest. He caught her hand during her second attempt to inflict serious bodily harm on him.

"Is that anyway to greet your long-lost love," he said, soothingly.

Alexis did whatever she did when a charming, attractive man with sociopathic leanings looked at her, she grew all flustered.

"I… Well, what's your name anyway," she said, "I don't know whether to call you Craig or Jerry or Ted Bundy…."

He grabbed her hand and started stroking it.

"You can call me whatever you want, my love," he said, looking into her eyes, "I have missed you."

Alexis snorted.

"Yeah right," she said, "You tried to seduce my daughter and that sent me straight into therapy because you're not the only man in my life who ever tried to do that."

Jerry/Craig got a distasteful look on his face.

"Do not compare me to that gutter rodent Ric," he said, "I don't seduce daughters on the living room rugs of their own homes. I have much more style than that."

Alexis tried to move away from him.

"Like that matters, except to a amoral criminal like you," she muttered.

"Besides, Sam was a diversion, a means to an end," he said, "I only tried to kill her. We never slept together."

Alexis tried to hold her temper.

"Oh that's reassuring," she said, "Thanks for splitting that hair for me."

He smiled.

"Your welcome, my darling," he said, "Now do you want to pick up where we last left up?"

She scratched her head.

"I don't even remember what we were doing," she said, "It's been a while."

He put his face next to her hear.

"Would you like me to whisper…."

She spun around, pulled out of his grasp, opened the front door and pushed him outside of it before slamming it shut again. All in one series of fluid movements that would do her Tai Chi teacher proud. She brushed herself off and then went to pour herself a drink, waiting for the next worthless suitor to come begging for a second chance at her front door. She looked at her watch. It was only 10 a.m., plenty of time for her ex-husband Ric to show up.

* * *

Coleman looked at Spinelli incredulously.

"You're looking for Olivia," he said, "that luscious dame can have any man in town she wants."

"I know that, Shaggy One but she's got a yen for the younger man," Spinelli said.

Coleman looked at Spinelli doubtfully.

"Not that young," he said, "I heard she's taken up with that Johnny Zacchara."

Spinelli nodded.

"I heard that too," he said, "It will never last. The Unworthy Mob Prince cannot please thee."

Kristina watched them totally perplexed.

"I hadn't heard that he had a new girlfriend," she said, "But he's a hunk of burning love…"

Both Coleman and Spinelli turned around to look at her.

Coleman pointed his finger.

"Didn't I sell you a Shirley Temple last week," he said, "I could have sworn…"

Spinelli looked at the bartender gravely.

"I could have sworn as well," he said, "But my little half-pint hacker has grown much, like a bamboo shoot."

"Well, she's still too young to hang out in my establishment," he said, "Now if she shows up next week and she's 18, then it's a different story."

Spinelli agreed.

"Come on, we'd better leave," he said, "and take our business elsewhere."

They let the bar and Coleman breathed a sigh of relief and got back down to calculating some Vegas side bets.

Maxie walked up to Spinelli and Kristina, wearing a pout on her face.

"My Fair Maximista," Spinelli said, smiling, "What brings you in my universe?"

She pecked him on the cheek.

"I've just finished some shopping," she said, showing her bags, "I was looking at some new lines of swim suits for Kate and I think I'm going to have to head to the big city to look there because I can't be seen walking around in PC skank suits."

"I ran into Kristina in a bar," Spinelli said, "and we're looking for something to do."

Maxie looked both ways down the street.

"You'd better watch out for her parents," she said, "Sonny will put a hit out on you if you touch his daughter and Alexis will just kill you and skulk around town posing as her dead sister to get off."

Spinelli shook his head.

"I'm not romantically bonded to Kristina," he said, "She just seemed lost."

Kristina folded her arms.

"I'm not lost," she said, "I'm bored. Doesn't anything ever happen in this town?"

Both Maxie and Spinelli looked at each other.

"Do you want to handle that My One True Love," he said.

She shrugged.

"Maybe you'd better sit down and tell her as soon as you have a day or so to kill."

Kristina's interest piqued.

"So PC really isn't dullsville?"

Spinelli took a deep breath.

"It can be a most exciting place," he said, "Come and I will show you."

* * *

Alex whipped out her cell phone and called Kristina's father, leaving a message that she needed to talk to him about their daughter. It was an important matter and couldn't wait. Then she changed her clothes, left Molly with the nameless baby sitter and took off out of the house on an errand of mercy. Before she got too far, she turned the corner and collided with one of the last people in town she wanted to see.

"Oh it's you," Alex said, after dusting her business suit off.

"Great to see you too," Ric said, "In fact, you look quite pretty today."

"Oh shut up, Ric," she said, "And no, I'm not giving you full custody of Molly not in this lifetime"

He looked a bit taken aback.

"That's not why I'm in this section of town. I'm not trying to give you a hard time," he said, "I'm looking for..."

"Claudia," Alexis said.

Ric looked up at her surprised. She rolled her eyes at her ex-husband.

"Oh Ric seriously, the whole town knows you're sleeping together," Alexis said, "I just hope Sonny doesn't find out."

"He won't," Ric said, confidently, "He's got enough on his plate keeping him busy, too much so to know what his latest wife is up to or whose bed she's in."

Alexis just stared at him. Some things never changed and one of them was standing right in front of her. This ongoing vendetta between the two half brothers would probably be still going on strong in the afterlife when both were dead and their bodies lay buried in some Port Charles crypt. Having had relationships and children with both of them, she had learned through the years that most of the energy spent in this ridiculous squabble came from Ric's end as Sonny seemed little more than irritated at his younger brother's shenanigans most days in comparison. Besides, Sonny's obsession with Carly took precedence over everything else.

Alexis just looked at Ric and nodded slowly. It was so much easier to do that these days than get drawn into another argument over whether the sex had been better with Ric or his brother. She knew if she ever answered that, someone's feelings would get hurt.

"You're probably right," she told Ric, "His son just had brain surgery and woke up from his coma, angry at the entire world except Bridezilla. Both her and his ex-wife are pregnant and have probably driven him to drink again already."

"Not to mention his trying to leave the importing business and then being drawn back in," Ric admitted.

"That's partly your fault," Alexis reminded him, "You baited the trap and he stepped into it."

"Now Alexis, you know my brother is certainly smart enough to have avoided it if he really wanted to stay out of the business."

"I don't have any sympathy for him if he does go back to playing mobster," Alexis said, "He knows what the cost will be. He should be reminded every time he visits his oldest son."

"It's like a drug he can't quit," Ric said, "I think we both know that, having had to compete with it."

Alexis took a good hard look at him, surprised at the stroke of honesty in his words. Not a quality you saw or heard of much from Ric.

"How do you know what it felt like, Ric?"

"What are you talking about," Ric said, feeling the heat.

"At least I got away and made a clean break," she said, "At least until I got together with Craig…or is it Jerry…"

Ric shook his head.

"That guy's pure psycho," he said, "You can't put him and Sonny in the same category."

"What about him and you," Alexis said, "After all, you did chain Carly to a wall in a panic room and tried to kill Liz at least once."

He shook his head again.

"I was under a lot of stress," he said.

Alexis laughed.

"Like you were when you had sex with my daughter in my house," she said, "You never take responsibility for anything…like you're probably doing with Sonny's latest wife."

He did a double take.

"What are you talking about?"

Alexis held up her hand.

"Now tell me if I got this straight. I know that my good friend, Jax fathered Carly's baby," Alexis started, while waggling her finger.

"And," he said, not liking where this was going.

"But what about Claudia's bun in the oven," she said, "Are you its father?"

Ric nearly shrank beneath her gaze but collected himself.

"What…what would make you ask a question like that," he said.

Alexis sighed.

"I know you Ric," she said, "and I know that any woman that's in Sonny's orbit, you want for yourself."

Ric frowned.

"That's not true," he said, "Not entirely true. What can I say, my brother and I have the same taste in women."

Alexis snorted.

"It has nothing to do with 'taste'," she said.

Ric knew he had to change the subject fast.

"So where are you off to," he asked.

"I'm off on an errand," she said, "which is none of your business."

"So you want to keep what you're doing a mystery from me," he guessed.

She looked annoyed.

"No, it's just that I don't go telling my ex-husbands my business," she retorted.

"You tell your first husband everything," Ric said.

"That's different," she said, "He's my best friend and like I said, I didn't watch him rolling on the living room rug with my daughter."

Ric looked away.

"Oh that again," he said, "Alexis I really think it's time for you to put that aside and move on."

"Oh give it a rest," Alexis said, "I don't spend my days fantasizing about getting you back if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh no, I wouldn't presume as much," he said, "You've moved on to higher quality men like Jerry."

She shook her head.

"That was pretty low, Ric," she said, "but at least I didn't have to chain him to my bed."

"Ouch," he said.

Alexis looked at him.

"Maybe we should just end this conversation while we're ahead and just move on," she said.

Ric stared at her for several moments.

"Agreed," he said, "Have a nice life."

They both went their separate ways.

* * *

Kristina gasped when she saw the room that Spinelli had brought her to see. It looked a lot like a studio apartment with some semblance of resembling a residence but everywhere, there were pieces of equipment which Kristina couldn't identify but that looked important.

"What's all this," she said, touching the equipment with her finger.

Spinelli smiled.

"It's my latest project," he said, "So I can better assist Stone Cold with his missions of intrigue and mystery."

Kristina's eyes narrowed.

"Stone Cold…that's Jason Morgan, right?"

Spinelli nodded and Kristina's eyes brightened and her face broke into a huge smile.

"Why does my mention of him please you so?"

She struggled to control herself, dropping the mask of bored nonchalance that she wore daily back over her face.

"I just think he's kind of cool," she said, "in a broodingly handsome, mysterious kind of way."

"But you don't know him that well…"

Kristina sighed.

"But I've seen him," she said, "Every day when I go to school, I see him through the window of the diner eating his breakfast, usually alone…and after school, I see him playing pool at Coleman's bar."

"Oh…I see," he said, "You've been doing quite a bit of recognizance surveillance on Stone Cold. Is he aware of the depths of your interest?"

Kristina blushed and turned away.

"Oh no…no…I've never even really spoken to him," she said, "Just looked."

Spinelli nodded.

"He does attract many women in Port Charles but he's broken a few hearts," he said, "What about other guys your own age at school?"

Kristina snorted.

"They're all boys," she said, "I'm looking for a man."

Spinelli's eyes widened.

"Perhaps you should give this some more thought," he said, "Have you talked to your mother about it?"

He knew as soon as he had given that advice, he had said the wrong thing. Kristina looked horrified.

"You've got be kidding me," she said, "as if I could ever talk to my mother about anything having to do with love or men or…sex. She's so uptight."

Spinelli wrinkled his forehead.

"She's not always like that," he said, "In fact in my experience she can be pretty laid back and easy going on a wide variety of topics."

"What did you do, smoke weed with her," she said, then saw the look on his face, "Hey, that was a joke."

Spinelli wisely chose another angle of discussion.

"Well is there any other member of the female persuasion that you could talk to about this," he asked.

Kristina looked deep in thought, and then shook her head.

"No, they're all competition," she said, "the pool of guys in PC is neither wide nor deep."

"I see," Spinelli said, not sure to be flattered or offended by her droll observation, "Well what if you talk to My fair Maximista…"

"You're what?"

Spinelli smiled.

"Maxie," he said, "She knows a lot about these kinds of things from the feminine perspective."

Kristina nodded.

"Okay, whatever," she said, "I'll give her a try but she better be cool."

"Maxie transcends coolness," Spinelli said, dreamily, "She is her own force of nature."

* * *

Alex had a bad headache. If she hadn't run into two of her exes in one day, she might have been more concerned. She walked into the diner to buy some coffee in the off-chance case that she was suffering from caffeine withdrawal. While inside, she saw Maxie sitting at a table and felt guilty because every time she saw her, she felt that the wrong Jones daughter had been murdered by the latest in a long chain of PC serial killers, whose mug shots lined one entire wall inside the Port Charles Police Department. Not that she ever said that out loud, but she never could shake that belief that the serial killer had made an error in judgment.

She walked up to order her coffee just when Maxie went to pick up her croissant sandwich.

"Hi Maxie," Alexis said, "How are you doing today?"

Maxie smiled back, gritting her teeth.

"Fine Alexis," she said, "Just finishing some reports for Kate so they'll be ready when she's back in town."

"That's nice," she said, "I'm sure Kate feels fortunate to have you as an employee."

Maxie shrugged.

"I do my best," she said, "but there's still so much to learn."

Alexis smiled.

"I'm sure you're a quick study."

Maxie thanked the cook for her sandwich and started to walk back to her table.

"So how's Kristina doing," she said, "I saw her today. She's really growing up quickly."

Alexis sighed.

"Too quickly," she said, "I could have sworn that only yesterday, she was a little girl."

"Time passes quickly," Maxie said, "My mother when she's around often says the same thing. I just chalked up her bewilderment to the fact that at best, she's an absentee mom."

"I'm sure she loves you," Alexis said, "but you know it's strange, I remember so clearly when you got your heart transplant and you've grown up so much."

That was pretty much the truth in more ways than one. Maxie's childhood had vanished along with her surgical scar.

"Why thank you Alexis," Maxie said, "I'm sure you don't have to be too concerned about Kristina. She's just going through what a lot of teenagers do. The whole rebellion thing."

"I noticed that this morning," Alexis said, "along with the belly ring that wasn't there yesterday."

Maxie shrugged.

"That's pretty harmless," she said, "as long as it's done right."

"It doesn't seem harmless," Alexis said, "Of course it's my fault, I have been so busy working…and doing other things that I'm sure will come to me…"

"Alexis…"

"What," she said, "I'm sorry to keep going on like this."

"Kristina is a smart kid who's just experimenting and testing her boundaries," Maxie said, "If you push or pull too hard, then she'll pull even further away and run off and do something really stupid. Trust me on that one."

Alexis nodded.

"Thank you for the advice," she said, as she sipped her coffee wondering if this nightmare of a day would wind up being exactly that, a bad dream.

* * *

Kristina wandered around Spinelli's room as he explained the different pieces of equipment to her and how to use it.

"You spend a lot of time doing this spy work," she said.

"Surveillance yes," he corrected, "and other forms of information gathering."

She laughed.

"You mean spying."

He shrugged.

"My mother would love to get her hands on most of this stuff just to keep tabs on me," Kristina said.

"I…."

The door opened and in walked a dream. Kristina's eyes widened. Spinelli smiled widely.

"Stone Cold…"


	2. Chapter 2

Stone Cold or Jason Morgan, as he was known to most PC residents on both sides of the law strode in the room and looked at both Spinnelli and Kristina as if they were insects. That's often how Jason looked at people but no one in town took it personally. They chalked it up to that mysterious unnamed brain malady he had suffered when he still lived as Jason Quartermaine, aspiring medical student and favored son. Still, there were others out there who whispered that Jason had changed virtually overnight from a poster pinup to an often blank-faced and surly mobster because of a bad acid trip. Whatever had been done to him at the cusp of adulthood had left him a mop of hair which stuck straight up and never moved, even during the PC tornado of 2007 and the PC typhoons of 2006 and 2008.

Kristina marveled at Jason's hair, just like she loved everything about him, from his killer boots to his sexy if still unmoving hair. She couldn't figure out why yesterday she hadn't seem to notice him much yet today, tremors of anticipation flushed her cheeks just from him entering the room. She felt weak-kneed almost as if she had to sit down but she felt like she'd faint if she did.

He checked out the room, with a watchful eye as he did every time he entered a room. A habit acquired from years working on and off as Sonny's enforcer. Sonny had taken an angry bitter Jason under his wing and channeled the loss of his moral center and a lot of energy into creating the perfect remorseless killer. Over the years, he and Sonny were like most old married couples and until recently, they had boasted one of the most longest lasting and stable relationships in PC, rivaling any marriage but cracks had appeared in the veneer of the cornerstone of their relationship.

Kristina didn't know the back story of the man standing in front of her. She just knew she had to have him, though she wasn't clear what "have" meant. Perhaps Maxie would be nice enough to explain it to her because she knew a lot about guys leaving a string of broken hearts all across the town.

Her mouth felt filled with cotton and she found herself gazing into Jason's killer blue eyes for longer than was comfortable. Still, she couldn't look away.

"Hi Kristina," he said.

She jolted her head up to look at him, pushing the strands away with his hand.

"…Yes?"

She kicked herself inside for not saying something less lame than that.

"How are you doing," Jason said.

She swept a remaining strand away from her face.

"Fine…how about you?"

"Business has been good," he said, then his eyes narrowed," What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

She froze in his gaze. She had heard that there was no point in not being truthful to the person called the human lie detector but she couldn't come right out and say it.

"I suppose so," she said.

"Then why aren't you there?"

She bit her lip.

"The other kids are so lame," she said, "They seem like such children now."

Jason's gaze appeared inpenetratable.

"You were one yourself not too long ago," Jason said, "You haven't been a teenager for very long at all."

Spinnelli listened in fascination as pretty much anything that Stone Cold did fascinated him.

"What brought you to my place," he asked.

Jason turned to look at him, ignoring the question.

"Why are you aiding and abetting Kristina ditching school?"

Spinnelli didn't know what to say.

"I met up with her at Coleman's place this morning," he said, "I thought my place might be a better location for her than the bar while I try to tell her how important it is to go to school."

Kristina rolled her eyes. Jason nodded thoughtfully.

"Then I suggest you wrap up your efforts and escort Kristina to her school," Jason said.

Spinnelli nodded.

"Mission accepted," he said.

"Kristina scowled but then smiled when Jason looked her way.

Jason turned back to the business he had with Spinnelli.

"Did you get that job done for me," he asked.

"Spinnelli nodded and reached in a drawer underneath a pile of papers for a folder. He handed it to Jason who accepted it without looking at it. With just a nod of his head at both of them, Jason left the room, closing the door behind him.

"What a guy," Kristina said.

Spinnelli looked at the teenaged girl and sighed. The aura which was Jason inspired similar feelings in many individuals of the fairer sex. If he could break down Jason into a computerized formula and bottle it into some software, he could make a fortune selling it.

* * *

Alexis picked up the phone and hoped that Diane was available to pick up her call. It rang a few times which upped Alexis' already high stress level.

"Hello Alexis, this had better be important because I'm on a killer streak here," an affectionately irate voice said.

Alexis took a deep breath to center herself.

"It's just been one of those days where Dante's inferno would look pretty good right now."

"That bad?"

"First I told you about my daughter, right? About how I tucked her into bed and she was a little girl and now she's a surly teenager with a belly ring."

"Yes you did," Diane said patiently.

"Well now I just found out from someone on the street that I slept with the mayor of PC and I have no memory of it at all!"

Diane sighed.

"Were you drinking," she asked.

"No, not more than usual."

"Were you toking the 420 with that computer nerd again?"

Alexis laughed.

"Oh no, that was a onetime thing," she said, "I'm off drugs for good."

"So what's this about having sex with the mayor," Diane said, "Were you engaging in another risk taking exercise to prove something to yourself?"

"Oh no," Alexis insisted," I never slept with the mayor. I think I'd remember unless the sex was really that bad."

Diane dismissed that theory.

"No, he's pretty skilled…actually."

"And how would you know," Alexis asked.

"That's in the category of nondisclosure Alexis," Diane said.

"But you just disclosed it," Alexis insisted, "What was it like?"

"You should know my dear," Diane said, "You slept with him."

"No no," Alexis said, "The last guy I had sex with was Jerry…Craig or whoever and I definitely remember that though I'd love to forget it."

"We all would," Diane said, "but he hangs around like a bad odor."

"Speaking of which," Alexis said, "He dropped by today wanting some sort of reconciliation."

Diane sighed.

"What did you do Alexis," she said.

"I did a few of those defensive moves you taught me and shoved him out the door," she said.

Diane smiled on her end.

"Good for you, Alexis," she said, "Let's hope he stays away."

Alexis agreed but had her doubts.

* * *

Kristina walked into the classroom and sat in the back. All the kids looked totally unfamiliar to her. As did the teacher. She droned the teacher's voice out and started doodling in her notebook about Jason. He was definitely the most attractive looking man in town. Why didn't she notice that yesterday? She didn't think about much except that for some reason, this morning her attraction to him hit her like a lightning bolt. Not that it really mattered. Kristina was in love.

* * *

Spinnelli ran into Maxie at the diner where she still sat working on her reports. He brought himself a soda and joined her.

"How things going with you and Kristina," she asked.

"Lil' Krissy is back in school as we speak," he said, "though she's certainly not little anymore.

Maxie shrugged.

"So she had a growth spurt," she said, "It happened to me."

"How is your work with The Glacial One going," Spinelli said.

Maxie made a face.

"It's taken me all morning," she said, "and I still don't have the damn thing finished."

"Maybe you've been working too hard and need a break," Spinelli said.

She shook her head.

"I don't think I can take a break until I have this report done," Maxie said, "Yeah I know my working for Kate is a ruse but I like the fashion industry. I can see myself working in it some day."

"For you, all is possible," Spinelli said, "You can do anything you put your mind to, my fair Maximista."

She smiled.

"Why thank you Spinelli," she said, kissing him.

He swooned from the sensation of her lips.

"So anything else happened," Maxie asked.

"Stone Cold came by to pick up the report I did for him," Spinelli said.

"Did he have much to say," Maxie asked.

Spinelli frowned.

"Something unusual did happen," he said, "He seemed to notice a difference in Kristina that perhaps I and others have missed."

Maxie leaned forward.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"He seemed to remember her being a little girl only a short while ago," he said.,

She laughed.

"So what's odd about that," she said, "all teenagers began life as little girls and time often seems to fly when you look back at it."

He shook his head.

"No, this seemed different than what you or might do," Spinelli said, "I think Jason might have sensed a temporal difference."

She put up her hands.

"Now, you're sounding like science fiction," she said.

"Science yes, but fiction, not at all," he said, "I have read much documentation about temporal changes and how they affect people."

Maxie rolled her eyes.

"I saw a few X-Files episodes…"

He frowned.

"You don't believe me," he said, "Why don't you have faith?"

"Because this is a bit of a stretch, don't you think," she said.

"Wait a minute," Spinelli said, "Weren't there vampires once in this town?"

"Urban myth," Maxie said, "from some people at GH who probably hit the medicine cabinet too many times."

"We shall see," Spinelli said, "Or I shall see, I intend to look into this matter myself."

She nodded.

"You do that and then report back to me what you find," she said.

He resigned himself that his girlfriend didn't believe in what he said, while she continued to talk about what a terrible person Kate was and two tables away, someone listened very closely.

Kristina wasn't much of a doodler, in fact she really didn't like art, but as she looked down halfway through some class, math maybe, at her notebook she saw scribbles of hearts and flowers surrounding her name and that of Jason Morgan.

She reacted in shock at first and then her eyes flitted quickly around the class to see if anyone had noticed her artwork. But everyone else remained either preoccupied in the assignment or in making the classmate in closest proximity to them absolutely miserable. Kristina just sighed, and covered up her notebook with her hand.

Mercifully the bell rang and she grabbed her things and ran out of the classroom, where she quickly collided with Johnny Zacchara, one of the hottest kids in school. Granted, Johnny was also the oldest kid in the high school having flunked several grades and being forced by the local judge to return to school to make up all the classes that he had missed. Still, he spent most of his days ditching school and hanging out with his latest girlfriend, Olivia, PC's local cougar of choice since Felicia retired back to Texas and Tracy took herself off the market by marrying Luke. Kristina wondered what he saw in the older woman. Sure she was hot for someone whose best years were clearly behind her and she dressed in dresses cut to here but why would any hot young stud like Johnny pick someone older than dust in the first place?

Johnny finally noticed her after he made sure that none of his body parts had been damaged in his collision with Kristina. Satisfied that even every hair stood in its proper place, he finally took a look at the teenager and did a double take. It looked like she had grown six inches overnight and some inches in other places as well. His face nearly flushed for thinking about Kristina in that way. After all, not long ago she had only been about six years old. How quickly time flied whether or not you were having fun but he had to stop thinking about her as anything but the little girl she had been just yesterday. If her father had got wind that any older guys were lusting after his princess, there would be hell to pay and any prospective Romeos would be crawling home with bullets lodged in their knees and a couple of other choice places. Johnny took pride in his body the way it was, knowing that it was his only chance of working his way up PC's brutal food chain so naturally he didn't want to do anything to endanger its pristine condition.

"So doll face, what are you doing here," Johnny said, "I thought you were at PC Elementary."

She glared at him from beneath her thick mascara.

"That's for babies," she said, "And I'm a young woman now. I just started attending this school and it's already boring me to distraction."

He held up his hands to ward off her defensiveness but Kristina scowled knowing he was just mocking her, treating her like the child she was not.

"O-kay so you've moved up in the world" he said, "So you're all grown up now and ready to take it on, I see."

She frowned at him, tossing her hair back.

"And you're repeating your senior year for what…the third time? Wouldn't that be called moving on down?"

This minx who had sprung up overnight had a sassy mouth on her.

"Only the second," he said, "But I'm a busy guy with a lot on my plate. I don't have much time for spending hours each day with a bunch of underdeveloped kids being programmed into the next round of PC robots."

Kristina raised her brow.

"So why are you here today?"

His face grew sullen.

"My sister Claudia said she'd break both of my legs if I ditched school again," he said, "She's worse than a mother."

"She's a scary looking woman," Kristina agreed, "Why does she wear dark clothes all the time? Is she like gothic?"

Johnny laughed.

"No, she's Claudia," he said, "Our family situation is way too complicated to explain in the school hallway."

"Try me," Kristina said, "Somehow I don't see my latest stepmother who dresses like a gloomy tramp as being all that complicated.

Johnny didn't like the references to his sister, but he couldn't really launch a convincing argument against them so he changed the subject instead.

"What were you doing hanging out with Spinelli at Coleman's bar this morning," he asked.

"He was teaching me how to play pool," she said.

"If you ever play for money which is the only way to do it right," he said, "You'll need a better tutor than him to teach you."

"Yeah I know," she said, "I was thinking of asking Jason Morgan to give me some tips on my game."

Johnny's jaw dropped open.

"You're kidding right," he said, "Kristina, honey you need to stay away from him."

She sneered.

"Stop calling me 'honey' and Jason's way cool," she said, "I think he would be a wonderful teacher in pool…and other things."

"Kristina, what the hell are you talking about," he said, "You're just a little.."

But then he looked at her and noticed again that she had changed, her rail thin body had fleshed out and become more rounded. Her eyes more large, her lips full, her breasts…. When the hell did this all happen?

"I'm all women now," she preened, "by next week, I'll be in high school at the rate I'm going."

"Yeah right," he said.

She reached out and touched his arm, with her manicured fingernail marking a trail down to his hand. He removed it as if he'd been burned.

She fluttered her eyelashes and puckered her lips.

"What's the matter," she said, "You not like that?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Does your mother know you've got a thing going with Jason," he asked, thinking that would certainly give Alexis a coronary.

Kristina sighed and crossed her arms.

"My mom has no idea what I'm doing," she said, "She's too busy being the DA of all PC to even know that I exist. She still sees me as that little girl."

Johnny sensed a hint of melancholy in her voice.

"I'm sure your mother loves you very much," he said, "She's just got a lot on her plate prosecuting everyone in town, including half my family."

* * *

Alexis pulled out her Blackberry and tried to bring up her daily planner. She flipped through it, from one day's worth of activities to the next, looking for the dates that she had slept with the mayor of Port Charles. Somehow she wasn't surprised to see that none of these alleged liaisons appeared in any of her daily schedules. She sat down at the table in the diner and sipped her herbal tea laced with some home-brought scotch in relief.

She reached for her phone.

"Alexis, is that you again," Dianne

said, wearily.

"Did I interrupt you at a bad time," she said.

"Max might think so," Dianne said, "He was just about to demonstrate a rather exotic…"

Alexis cheeks flamed at just the idea of her best frenemy rolling in the sack with Sonny's loyal if somewhat incompetent bodyguard at some Vegas Casino hotel .

"I'm sorry to interrupt your…well…"

"The best sex I've ever had," Dianne finished.

"Yeah…whatever," Alexis said, flustered.

"So what's the problem," Dianne said, "Your daughter or the mayor?"

Alexis tried to take another sip of her drink to calm herself enough to continue.

"Well, you know when I told you that I heard that I had sex with the mayor," she said.

"Oh yes, I remember that," Dianne said, "and you couldn't remember if it was good or bad."

"No, no, no," Alexis said, "I don't remember having sex with the guy at all. And that's all I've been hearing about is that I had some lurid affair with the man."

Silence greeted Alexis as Dianne took some time to digest her words.

"Are you still there," said Alexis acting as if this phone call were her lifeline.

"Yes…Max is checking his suitcase for the…oh never mind…," Dianne said, "So are you sure you didn't just experience a memory blackout and just forgot you slept with the mayor?"

"No, no, I know I never did," she said, "You see if I did, I would have scheduled it in my planner and if it were in my planner, it would be in my Blackberry and when I checked my Blackberry…"

"I get it Alexis," Diane said, interrupting her.

"So I know I never slept with him," she said, "Yet someone called me on the phone from the PC Inquirer and told me that photos had been sent to them of myself and the mayor in flag delecto in bed together."

"Really," Dianne said, "How interesting."

"Although technically, not all of them involved a bed," Alexis rattled on.

"Have you seen these photos?"

Alexis put her hand through her hair.

"Well no, but you know I couldn't have done something like this," she said, "The only wild sex I had was with Jerry and we know how that turned out."

"Well, it's not like you've been a nun exactly," Dianne said, "but you tend to have long droughts between sexual interludes and then you get pregnant when you do do the deed."

"Yeah, I wonder about that," Alexis mused, "Oh dear, maybe I should go out and get a test done just in case something happened this time."

Dianne looked up from where she was lying and saw Max heading towards her with something made of leather.

"You do that Alexis and if anything else comes up, give me a call," she said, "I've got a man waiting for me."

Alexis sat and tried to make sense of the whole situation but the more she tried, the more confused she became. This day had been a nightmare from the time she had gotten out of bed and discovered her beloved little girl Kristina had become a surly teenager and then there were the twin visits of bad boys past and now she just found out she had sex with the mayor and a scandal had begun to emerge!

Just when she thought it couldn't be worse, she remembered she still had to talk to Sonny about their wayward daughter. Damn, it was days like this she wished she could stay in bed and just pull her 700 thread sheets over her head for the rest of the day.

* * *

Kristina followed him, always one block ahead, ducking behind trees and light posts when he looked behind him. Jason had always seemed to have built in radar for being aware of everything and everyone around him which was downright uncanny. But if he knew she was tailing him, he kept it to himself. She watched as he went into Coleman's where he met up with a skinny brunette with large breasts. Damn, it was her sister, Samantha. Okay, technically they were only half-sisters because apparently when her mother was a teenager, she had gotten pregnant and had given birth to a daughter that she had completely forgotten about. After all, if Alexis had remembered she had another daughter, you would think that when Kristina had been lying near death with aplastic anemia several years ago, that her mother would have traveled the ends of the earth to find her half-sister. The only explanation was to chalk it up to some serious case of amnesia.

Kristina crept closer to where Jason met up with Sam, hiding behind the garbage bin so she could hear what they were saying.

"Oh Jason, I just can't deny these feelings that I've had for you so long," Sam said, breathlessly.

Jason looked her over casually.

"I can see now that you are the one for me," he said.

She smiled.

"So does that mean you're over Liz?"

Jason's eyebrows wrinkled.

"What does she have to do with this," he said, "We share a child together but my lifestyle is putting his own welfare in danger."

Sam nibbled her lip.

"You're not upset about that dalliance that I had with her husband?"

Jason raised a brow.

"Any reason why I should be," he said, "After all, it's only natural for you to take that course."

She put her hands in her pockets.

"What do you mean?"

"Sam, we both know that every time one man rejects you, you just hop into bed with another one. After all that's how we got together."

She opened up her mouth in shock.

"I do not," she said, folding her arms.

"Sam, when you found out about me and Liz, you seduced your own stepfather," he said, "and then there's the time…"

"Oh just drop it," she said, "Let's go in and play some pool."

Kristina watched the couple go in the diner with a smile widening her face. Oh how perfect! Kristina had believed that Sam would prove to be her largest obstacle in her pursuit of Jason Morgan but after this conversation, she realized that Jason had just gone back to her on the rebound from Liz who was the rebound from Sam and so forth. If she played her cards carefully and didn't make the mistakes that these women clearly had made, she could win the man of her dreams!

She walked down the street whistling under her breath.

 

Kristina's sighting of the squabble between ultra cool Jason and her somewhat skanky half-sister Sam made her day. No, it made her entire week. For the first time, she saw a clear path between herself and the coolest and sexiest man in PC which was Jason Morgan. Jason had dumped Sam for a while to hang out with one of his ex-girlfriends Liz who got pregnant with his child and then decided she didn't want to hang out with a man who brought danger and death around her and her children so she dumped him and inertia brought her back to Sam's door. It had to be nothing more than that which reunited the two, because Sam rarely even had a real job and no real taste in clothes. Pushing her out of the picture would be a cinch, Kristina thought.

Kristina had been a toddler when she met her long-lost sister who had been born under a shroud of mystery and without a father as well. Alexis didn't talk much about the circumstances surrounding Sam's birth and the years she had spent separated from her mother before she suddenly appeared and was embraced into Alexis' family tree without having to take a DNA test

. Kristina had always assumed that the silence her mother held on the matter meant that Sam must have been spawned from a real live demon and that Alexis couldn't come to terms that she had hooked up with the ultimate in bad boys. What other explanation could there be for having a mother who had completely forgotten that she had a daughter years ago even when that knowledge could have saved Kristina's life? And Sam looked the part.

The way her mother told the story, she had focused her search for a donor to save Kristina's life on Sam because the child she carried shared a father with Kristina, that being Sonny a man blessed with a brooding personality that dysfunctional women found irresistible and super sperm that enabled him to get a woman pregnant just like looking at her. Then Sam had somehow lost her baby and Alexis had lost what would have been her first grandchild.

But Sonny, Kristina's father did have a way of looking at a woman that would make her want to jump into bed with him and many a woman did. Somehow Kristina couldn't picture a suave cosmopolitan yet street smart guy like Sonny Corrinthos doing the horizontal with her uptight mother and Alexis had never provided much in the way of details involving her conception.

It had taken more than looking at him for Alexis to find herself in the position of taking a pregnancy test so clearly sex was involved in the equation somewhere but clearly her parents weren't still together. Instead, Sonny had hooked up with an assortment of neurotic women, the latest being Bridezella who had also gotten pregnant with his child. Kristina couldn't stand Claudia especially her attempts to cozy up to her half-brother Michael who had just gotten out of the hospital after having his brain unscrambled by surgeons, after it had spent two years in a coma. He had spent that time bedbound after he had been shot while being in the wrong place at the wrong time of another one of PC's regular mob shootouts. What Kristina couldn't figure out was how Mikey could have grown two feet and lost a thick crop of carrot hair without one single doctor noticing anything strange about that. She had visited him several times at the hospital when Claudia hadn't draped herself all over him, but Michael seemed to be mostly a young man hard wired to be angry at everyone.

Kristina turned around to walk back to Coleman's bar to look in the window into the smoky bar to watch Jason play some rounds of pool with an assortment of touch looking guys with tattoos who walked away broke and shaking their heads. She sighed and her knees felt weak. Maxie walked up behind her.

"He's not bad looking if you like the hard core mobster type," she said, "but he's out of your league."

Kristina shrugged.

"A girl can look, can't she," she said, "It doesn't mean we're an item."

Maxie looked at the younger girl who used to be much younger than her and saw herself in her shoes. After all, she had crushed out on older guys too, only she had pretty much skipped her teen years and had gone straight into young womanhood. She felt she had some advice to pass along to someone who had been where she had been…oh about a year ago…but would Kristina be any better a listener than she had been?

"Come on Kristina," she said, "Why don't we go to the diner, buy a coke and have a little talk about men."

Kristina scoffed.

"Only if the coke comes with bourbon," she said.

"Not unless you want to spend the night drying out in the PC jail," Maxie said, "and I can say from experience that's not a good time."

Kristina brushed her hair off of her shoulders.

"That's probably because you lived with the commissioner," Kristina said, "Which is got to be better than living with the D.A."

Maxie shrugged.

"All I can say is that I know what it's like to live in a strict household," she said, "I just can't remember what most of my childhood was like but I can certainly understand what you're going through."

Kristina doubted that but decided to head off to the diner with her anyway because she was treating. They both walked away from Coleman's bar with Kristina taking a last glance into the window where Jason prepared to rack the balls for another game.

* * *

Alexis waited in the office until Sonny got off the phone with one of his business associates. He had held up his hand when he saw her enter the room. Claudia, being her usual Bridezella self, glowered in the corner. Alexis decided to ignore her, as she did with all the women that Ric and Sonny shared these days.

Sonny finally got off the phone and then turned toward her smiling.

"I take it this is not a personal visit," he said, gesturing her to sit down.

"It's about Kristina," Alexis said getting right to the point, "She's become a rebellious teenager over night."

Sonny put his hands together and brooded.

"I saw her yesterday," he said, "In fact I had the bodyguard pick her up from kindergarten."

"I tucked a younger girl into bed last night," Alexis said, "or so I thought until I woke up this morning. I thought it was a bad dream."

Sonny stood still, his fingers rubbing against his lips.

"Maybe she just looks older," she said, "She's always been tall for her age."

Alexis sighed in exasperation.

"Sonny, she has a belly piercing," she said.

His brows shot up.

"A what," he said, "When did that happen?"

"That's my point," Alexis said, "I don't know when she had it done. Last night, she was just a little girl."

"So what do you want me to do about it," he asked, looking pensive.

"Oh… I don't know…nothing…dispense some reassurance that I'm just imagining all this," she said, "but I realize that none of this is your forte."

Sonny nodded.

"I could talk with her," he said, "take her out to lunch at her favorite place with the playground."

"Sonny, she's not a little girl," Alexis said, "She doesn't do playgrounds anymore."

That put him at a loss.

"I could take her shopping," he said, "Maybe Claudia would like to go."

Alexis looked at Sonny in horror.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come," she said.

Sonny's temper flared.

"She's my daughter too Alexis," he said, "I will spend some time with her and find out what's going on."

Alexis broke out into a smile and even kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you Sonny," she said, "Maybe between the two of us we can get to the bottom of this."

Sonny shrugged.

"If there's anything to get to the bottom of," he said, "What's happening to her is probably very normal in a girl…her age."

"I just want to make sure my Kristina's all right," Alexis said, before leaving the room. Sonny looked at the mother of his oldest child leave and just shook his head. Claudia just watched him before jumping up and waving her arms around.

"Sonny, how can you just let that woman talk to you that way," she asked.

"She's the mother of my oldest daughter Claudia," Sonny said, "She's just worried about our daughter and when she gets worried, she just gets a little…."

"Crazy?"

Sonny smiled.

"That and more," he said, "but she wasn't in full form today. You should see her some day when she gets to that point."

Claudia shook her head.

"I think I'll go and visit Michael," she said, "I have a whole list of songs for his iPod and I can see if he…remembers anything more about his former life."

Sonny sighed.

"Now don't push him too hard," he said, "He's in a volatile state right now. I'm wondering if he has the same condition that Jason got in that accident."

"Don't even say his name in the same sentence with Jason," Claudia said, "Michael's a sweet young boy, not a trained sociopathic hitman."

Sonny scowled and waved his finger.

"I'm worried about him so don't say anything that will upset him," he said.

"Have I ever," Claudia said, before skulking out of the room.

Sonny looked at her for a long time as she left then picked up the phone to make a call.

* * *

Kristina and Maxie once again settled at the diner where most of the edgy residents of PC hung out at one time or another and Maxie began the task of trying to teach Kristina what it meant to be literally a teenager almost over night. Of course, Kristina having just undergone the experience didn't see it that way as she felt every inch the teenager that she looked. It's just that her memory had weakened in spots and she couldn't remember key moments of having reached that stage in her young life.

"It's not easy but you'll get through it," Maxie said, patting the younger girl's hand, "I did just fine."

"But what about your sister," Kristina said, "I kind of remember you having one. For a brief second, she was in my mind as a little girl but she was older than I am now when she died."

Maxie's face clouded over at the mention of Georgie's death.

"Ah yes," she said, "Georgie on some level seemed to grow up even faster than I did," she said, "Not that it helped her. It might have gotten her killed."

Kristina frowned.

"I don't want to end up like that," she said, "I just want my mom to lay off with the over protectiveness, my father to remember he has a daughter and not just two sons and to have a really hot boyfriend."

Maxie nodded her head, impressed.

"Those are certainly worthwhile goals at your age," she said, "Of course next week who knows, you might be older than me and then you'll have to reset your goals."

Kristina looked at her latte.

"This is just so complicated," she said, "I mean I could have sworn I shared a stroller with my younger sister Molly not too long ago and now I can carry her."

"You might as well hold onto to that memory because by next week, Molly could be stealing your clothes, the family car and going after the same guys you want."

"Wow," she said, "Life is so unpredictable that way. Is it like that everywhere or just PC?"

Maxie couldn't answer that question.

"I don't know, but there's a lot about PC that's mysterious," she said, "People don't stay dead, there's rumors that a family of vampires lived around here and if you want to travel across town or to another country, all you have to do is go up or down a flight of stairs and there you are."

Kristina's eyes widened.

"I'll have to try that one someday," she said.

Suddenly, someone entered the diner and both girls stopped talking to wonder why he had come within their midst.

Kristina thought that maybe it was long past time for her to pay a visit to her father, but if the truth be told, he kind of weirded her out. Not because of what he did for a living as an importer of (cough)coffee(cough) but because more than once, she had caught him engaging in some rather strange activities when he thought no one was looking.

There was the time she had peered into his parlor when he had stood in front of the bureau mirror repeating the phrase, "you are dead to me" over and over. Then there was the way he collected wives and girlfriends often at the same time and everyone seemed to get along more or less without killing each other. Kristina tried to count the current members of Sonny's harem which included Bridezilla, Countess Kate, Olivia the Couger and Revolving Door Carly. But what could you say, there were women that Sonny married and then there were women that he just slept with and who clearly didn't have the ovaries to blackmail him into walking down the aisle. And Kristina figured out at a pretty young age which group included her mother as a card carrying member.

Sonny's latest bride did have all that he usually asked for in a woman and more and the one thing that Kristina could say about her was that she made Sonny's serial wife, Carly, seem a bit less freaky in retrospect. But then she had a feeling that Bridezilla freaked everyone out, except for her uncle Ric, who had also for a brief period of time been her step-father. Oh yeah, Ric, another addition to the list that detailed Daddy's weirdness factor.

Still, Kristina couldn't dwell too much on her father because she and Maxie were busy plotting how Kristina could get herself a hot guy.

"Maybe you shouldn't set your sights on Jason," Maxie cautioned, "Every woman who hangs around with him shrinks from being an independent career woman into a doormat in less than a year."

"I think he's just so hot," Kristina said, "I mean, that hair. Who in PC can match that?"

Maxie had to agree that Kristina did have a point there. Jason did have nice hair that defied certain natural laws, but ….

"All his girlfriends either wind up getting shot or beat up by his enemies," she said, "or they have to patch up his bullet wounds."

"Oh that sounds so... romantic," Kristina said, "so much better than getting dumb old flowers or candy."

Maxie looked at her charge and just sighed. She had so much of her father and mother in her looks which meant she would be breathtaking by the time she did grow up which could be at the rate she was going by the end of the month. Yet, she also had both sets of genes melded into her personality which might not necessarily be a good thing. Mixing Corinthos blood with that belonging to the Cassadine dynasty was just asking for trouble. But now that the product of such a volatile cauldron of DNA had come asking her for advice on men, Maxie felt obligated to keep her on the straight and narrow path.

They both stopped talking when they saw Olivia sashay through the door of the diner and walk up to the counter to order her daily jolt of java. Every man and most of the women in the place gazed at her in awe as she passed them.

"Why do they do that," Kristina asked, somewhat annoyed.

Maxie smiled.

"Because Olivia has landed herself a much younger and very hot young man," she said, "They all want to know what she's got."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

"She's an old lady, like my mom."

Maxie sighed.

"She's not that old really," she said, "and whatever she's got, Johnny clearly wants it."

Kristina detected a note of both pride and wistfulness in Maxie's voice.

"I thought you liked Johnny," she said, "You spend a lot of time looking at him."

Maxie shook her head quickly.

"Oh no," she said, "I'm totally down with my boyfriend."

"You mean Spinelli," Kristina said, "The nerdy guy who gives us all fancy nicknames that somehow make sense."

Maxie grinned.

"What is on the surface of a man is not all that's there," she said, "and Spinelli is like an iceberg, 90% of what makes him such a great guy is below the surface. You can't see it."

Kristina frowned.

"Well, then wherever there's an iceberg, there's got to be a Titanic somewhere, right?"

Maxie narrowed her eyes.

"I guess," she said, "but Johnny and I, we could never get together. He's not my type."

Kristina thought that Johnny looked pretty hot but being kin to Bridezilla was enough to knock him off her to-do list.

"He's not bad looking but not my type either," Kristina said, "Besides he's not Jason."

"Kristina honey," Maxie said, "They don't come around often like Jason. Besides he wasn't born, he was made as a result of a horrible, tragic car accident."

"I heard about that," Kristina said, "and how it changed him from a cute but bland beach boy doctor into a friggin' hot mobster babe."

Maxie sighed at the glow of excitement on the younger girl's face.

"Something like that," she said, "and the young girls in PC Junior High are already lining up placing bets on Michael undergoing the same transformation and who will land him first."

Kristina wrinkled her nose.

"Well his hair changed color so no one can call him Carrot Top anymore," she said, "That's a start."

Maxie looked up and saw Olivia grab her java jolt and come walking towards their table.

"Guess who's coming this way," she said, less than thrilled.

* * *

Alexis called Diane who hadn't yet returned from her romp in Las Vegas with Max on the phone to update her on her own investigation into her alleged affair with the mayor.

"Hello…Diane are you there?"

Diane picked up the phone. Max sighed next to her as he realized that the leather whip and cuffs were going to have to wait.

"Yes, this is she," Diane said, "Darling, this had better be important."

Alexis inhaled. _Just breathe_ , she said to herself like a mantra.

"Just what?"

"Oh nothing…I was just thinking of my visit that I just had with Kristina's father…Sonny."

"Yes and did you two go a couple rounds again," Diane asked.

"Yes…no, actually he seemed concerned that I was concerned about what's been going on with our daughter."

"You mean the growth spurt she's currently experiencing?"

Alexis tried to keep from hyperventilating.

"Growth spurt," she said, "This is no such thing. I put my daughter to bed and she was a little girl and now…"

"She's a teenager," Diane said, "Yeah I know. This happens to every mother. Their children grow up too fast."

"I'm speaking more literally," Alexis said, "But Sonny just said he would spend more time with her like take her to the playground."

Diane laughed.

"Sounds like someone's not keeping up with the times," she said.

"That's what I told him," Alexis said, "Then he suggested that she go shopping with his latest wife, that thing…Claudia."

"Ahh, yes," Diane said, "I would advise you to keep Kristina as far away from that creature as possible."

"I intend to do just that."

Diane changed the subject.

"I thought you were calling about your torrid romp with the mayor," she said.

"There is no torrid romp," she said, "I could have sworn he…I…we never did the…"

"Horizontal mambo," Diane suggested, "Maybe you did it standing up."

"We didn't do anything at all," Alexis said, barely holding onto her temper.

"Alexis, you told me yourself there were photos…"

"All fake," she said, "If I had slept with him, I would have remembered it and if I didn't, I would have scheduled it on my Blackberry."

"Maybe you got all spontaneous and forgot to do that," Diane said.

"I wouldn't forget so I know that we never slept together," Alexis said, "This is just crazy and it's going to be all over the PC tabloids by tomorrow."

"How do you know?"

"Because that horrid "Good Morning PC" reporter, Candy or whatever has been leaving me messages to do breakfast with her."

"Oh that's not good," Diane said, "Well, Alexis got to go. I've got a man here waiting."

Alexis' cheeks flushed.

"Oh…okay, you run along," she said, "I'll handle my life falling apart on this end of the line."

But Diane had already hung up. Alexis sighed and put her phone away when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

She almost screamed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh it's you," Alex said, after dusting her business suit off.

"Great to see you too," Ric said, "In fact, you look quite pretty today."

"Oh shut up, Ric," she said, "And no, I'm not giving you full custody of Molly not in this lifetime"

He looked a bit taken aback.

"That's not why I'm in this section of town. I'm not trying to give you a hard time," he said, "I'm looking for..."

"Claudia," Alexis said.

Ric looked up at her surprised. She rolled her eyes at her ex-husband.

"Oh Ric seriously, the whole town knows you're sleeping together," Alexis said, "I just hope Sonny doesn't find out."

"He won't," Ric said, confidently, "He's got enough on his plate keeping him busy, too much so to know what his latest wife is up to or whose bed she's in."

Alexis just stared at him. Some things never changed and one of them was standing right in front of her. This ongoing vendetta between the two half brothers would probably be still going on strong in the afterlife when both were dead and their bodies lay buried in some Port Charles crypt. Having had relationships and children with both of them, she had learned through the years that most of the energy spent in this ridiculous squabble came from Ric's end as Sonny seemed little more than irritated at his younger brother's shenanigans most days in comparison. Besides, Sonny's obsession with Carly took precedence over everything else.

Alexis just looked at Ric and nodded slowly. It was so much easier to do that these days than get drawn into another argument over whether the sex had been better with Ric or his brother. She knew if she ever answered that, someone's feelings would get hurt.

"You're probably right," she told Ric, "His son just had brain surgery and woke up from his coma, angry at the entire world except Bridezilla. Both her and his ex-wife are pregnant and have probably driven him to drink again already."

"Not to mention his trying to leave the importing business and then being drawn back in," Ric admitted.

"That's partly your fault," Alexis reminded him, "You baited the trap and he stepped into it."

"Now Alexis, you know my brother is certainly smart enough to have avoided it if he really wanted to stay out of the business."

"I don't have any sympathy for him if he does go back to playing mobster," Alexis said, "He knows what the cost will be. He should be reminded every time he visits his oldest son."

"It's like a drug he can't quit," Ric said, "I think we both know that, having had to compete with it."

Alexis took a good hard look at him, surprised at the stroke of honesty in his words. Not a quality you saw or heard of much from Ric.

"How do you know what it felt like, Ric?"

"What are you talking about," Ric said, feeling the heat.

"At least I got away and made a clean break," she said, "At least until I got together with Craig…or is it Jerry…"

Ric shook his head.

"That guy's pure psycho," he said, "You can't put him and Sonny in the same category."

"What about him and you," Alexis said, "After all, you did chain Carly to a wall in a panic room and tried to kill Liz at least once."

He shook his head again.

"I was under a lot of stress," he said.

Alexis laughed.

"Like you were when you had sex with my daughter in my house," she said, "You never take responsibility for anything…like you're probably doing with Sonny's latest wife."

He did a double take.

"What are you talking about?"

Alexis held up her hand.

"Now tell me if I got this straight. I know that my good friend, Jax fathered Carly's baby," Alexis started, while waggling her finger.

"And," he said, not liking where this was going.

"But what about Claudia's bun in the oven," she said, "Are you its father?"

Ric nearly shrank beneath her gaze but collected himself.

"What…what would make you ask a question like that," he said.

Alexis sighed.

"I know you Ric," she said, "and I know that any woman that's in Sonny's orbit, you want for yourself."

Ric frowned.

"That's not true," he said, "Not entirely true. What can I say, my brother and I have the same taste in women."

Alexis snorted.

"It has nothing to do with 'taste'," she said.

Ric knew he had to change the subject fast.

"So where are you off to," he asked.

"I'm off on an errand," she said, "which is none of your business."

"So you want to keep what you're doing a mystery from me," he guessed.

She looked annoyed.

"No, it's just that I don't go telling my ex-husbands my business," she retorted.

"You tell your first husband everything," Ric said.

"That's different," she said, "He's my best friend and like I said, I didn't watch him rolling on the living room rug with my daughter."

Ric looked away.

"Oh that again," he said, "Alexis I really think it's time for you to put that aside and move on."

"Oh give it a rest," Alexis said, "I don't spend my days fantasizing about getting you back if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh no, I wouldn't presume as much," he said, "You've moved on to higher quality men like Jerry."

She shook her head.

"That was pretty low, Ric," she said, "but at least I didn't have to chain him to my bed."

"Ouch," he said.

Alexis looked at him.

"Maybe we should just end this conversation while we're ahead and just move on," she said.

Ric stared at her for several moments.

"Agreed," he said, "Have a nice life."

They both went their separate ways.

Kristina gasped when she saw the room that Spinelli had brought her to see. It looked a lot like a studio apartment with some semblance of resembling a residence but everywhere, there were pieces of equipment which Kristina couldn't identify but that looked important.

"What's all this," she said, touching the equipment with her finger.

Spinelli smiled.

"It's my latest project," he said, "So I can better assist Stone Cold with his missions of intrigue and mystery."

Kristina's eyes narrowed.

"Stone Cold…that's Jason Morgan, right?"

Spinelli nodded and Kristina's eyes brightened and her face broke into a huge smile.

"Why does my mention of him please you so?"

She struggled to control herself, dropping the mask of bored nonchalance that she wore daily back over her face.

"I just think he's kind of cool," she said, "in a broodingly handsome, mysterious kind of way."

"But you don't know him that well…"

Kristina sighed.

"But I've seen him," she said, "Every day when I go to school, I see him through the window of the diner eating his breakfast, usually alone…and after school, I see him playing pool at Coleman's bar."

"Oh…I see," he said, "You've been doing quite a bit of recognizance surveillance on Stone Cold. Is he aware of the depths of your interest?"

Kristina blushed and turned away.

"Oh no…no…I've never even really spoken to him," she said, "Just looked."

Spinelli nodded.

"He does attract many women in Port Charles but he's broken a few hearts," he said, "What about other guys your own age at school?"

Kristina snorted.

"They're all boys," she said, "I'm looking for a man."

Spinelli's eyes widened.

"Perhaps you should give this some more thought," he said, "Have you talked to your mother about it?"

He knew as soon as he had given that advice, he had said the wrong thing. Kristina looked horrified.

"You've got be kidding me," she said, "as if I could ever talk to my mother about anything having to do with love or men or…sex. She's so uptight."

Spinelli wrinkled his forehead.

"She's not always like that," he said, "In fact in my experience she can be pretty laid back and easy going on a wide variety of topics."

"What did you do, smoke weed with her," she said, then saw the look on his face, "Hey, that was a joke."

Spinelli wisely chose another angle of discussion.

"Well is there any other member of the female persuasion that you could talk to about this," he asked.

Kristina looked deep in thought, and then shook her head.

"No, they're all competition," she said, "the pool of guys in PC is neither wide nor deep."

"I see," Spinelli said, not sure to be flattered or offended by her droll observation, "Well what if you talk to My fair Maximista…"

"You're what?"

Spinelli smiled.

"Maxie," he said, "She knows a lot about these kinds of things from the feminine perspective."

Kristina nodded.

"Okay, whatever," she said, "I'll give her a try but she better be cool."

"Maxie transcends coolness," Spinelli said, dreamily, "She is her own force of nature."

Alex had a bad headache. If she hadn't run into two of her exes in one day, she might have been more concerned. She walked into the diner to buy some coffee in the off-chance case that she was suffering from caffeine withdrawal. While inside, she saw Maxie sitting at a table and felt guilty because every time she saw her, she felt that the wrong Jones daughter had been murdered by the latest in a long chain of PC serial killers, whose mug shots lined one entire wall inside the Port Charles Police Department. Not that she ever said that out loud, but she never could shake that belief that the serial killer had made an error in judgment.

She walked up to order her coffee just when Maxie went to pick up her croissant sandwich.

"Hi Maxie," Alexis said, "How are you doing today?"

Maxie smiled back, gritting her teeth.

"Fine Alexis," she said, "Just finishing some reports for Kate so they'll be ready when she's back in town."

"That's nice," she said, "I'm sure Kate feels fortunate to have you as an employee."

Maxie shrugged.

"I do my best," she said, "but there's still so much to learn."

Alexis smiled.

"I'm sure you're a quick study."

Maxie thanked the cook for her sandwich and started to walk back to her table.

"So how's Kristina doing," she said, "I saw her today. She's really growing up quickly."

Alexis sighed.

"Too quickly," she said, "I could have sworn that only yesterday, she was a little girl."

"Time passes quickly," Maxie said, "My mother when she's around often says the same thing. I just chalked up her bewilderment to the fact that at best, she's an absentee mom."

"I'm sure she loves you," Alexis said, "but you know it's strange, I remember so clearly when you got your heart transplant and you've grown up so much."

That was pretty much the truth in more ways than one. Maxie's childhood had vanished along with her surgical scar.

"Why thank you Alexis," Maxie said, "I'm sure you don't have to be too concerned about Kristina. She's just going through what a lot of teenagers do. The whole rebellion thing."

"I noticed that this morning," Alexis said, "along with the belly ring that wasn't there yesterday."

Maxie shrugged.

"That's pretty harmless," she said, "as long as it's done right."

"It doesn't seem harmless," Alexis said, "Of course it's my fault, I have been so busy working…and doing other things that I'm sure will come to me…"

"Alexis…"

"What," she said, "I'm sorry to keep going on like this."

"Kristina is a smart kid who's just experimenting and testing her boundaries," Maxie said, "If you push or pull too hard, then she'll pull even further away and run off and do something really stupid. Trust me on that one."

Alexis nodded.

"Thank you for the advice," she said, as she sipped her coffee wondering if this nightmare of a day would wind up being exactly that, a bad dream.

Kristina wandered around Spinelli's room as he explained the different pieces of equipment to her and how to use it.

"You spend a lot of time doing this spy work," she said.

"Surveillance yes," he corrected, "and other forms of information gathering."

She laughed.

"You mean spying."

He shrugged.

"My mother would love to get her hands on most of this stuff just to keep tabs on me," Kristina said.

"I…."

The door opened and in walked a dream. Kristina's eyes widened. Spinelli smiled widely.

"Stone Cold…"


	4. Chapter 4

Stone Cold or Jason Morgan, as he was known to most PC residents on both sides of the law strode in the room and looked at both Spinnelli and Kristina as if they were insects. That's often how Jason looked at people but no one in town took it personally. They chalked it up to that mysterious unnamed brain malady he had suffered when he still lived as Jason Quartermaine, aspiring medical student and favored son. Still, there were others out there who whispered that Jason had changed virtually overnight from a poster pinup to an often blank-faced and surly mobster because of a bad acid trip. Whatever had been done to him at the cusp of adulthood had left him a mop of hair which stuck straight up and never moved, even during the PC tornado of 2007 and the PC typhoons of 2006 and 2008.

Kristina marveled at Jason's hair, just like she loved everything about him, from his killer boots to his sexy if still unmoving hair. She couldn't figure out why yesterday she hadn't seem to notice him much yet today, tremors of anticipation flushed her cheeks just from him entering the room. She felt weak-kneed almost as if she had to sit down but she felt like she'd faint if she did.

He checked out the room, with a watchful eye as he did every time he entered a room. A habit acquired from years working on and off as Sonny's enforcer. Sonny had taken an angry bitter Jason under his wing and channeled the loss of his moral center and a lot of energy into creating the perfect remorseless killer. Over the years, he and Sonny were like most old married couples and until recently, they had boasted one of the most longest lasting and stable relationships in PC, rivaling any marriage but cracks had appeared in the veneer of the cornerstone of their relationship.

Kristina didn't know the back story of the man standing in front of her. She just knew she had to have him, though she wasn't clear what "have" meant. Perhaps Maxie would be nice enough to explain it to her because she knew a lot about guys leaving a string of broken hearts all across the town.

Her mouth felt filled with cotton and she found herself gazing into Jason's killer blue eyes for longer than was comfortable. Still, she couldn't look away.

"Hi Kristina," he said.

She jolted her head up to look at him, pushing the strands away with his hand.

"…Yes?"

She kicked herself inside for not saying something less lame than that.

"How are you doing," Jason said.

She swept a remaining strand away from her face.

"Fine…how about you?"

"Business has been good," he said, then his eyes narrowed," What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

She froze in his gaze. She had heard that there was no point in not being truthful to the person called the human lie detector but she couldn't come right out and say it.

"I suppose so," she said.

"Then why aren't you there?"

She bit her lip.

"The other kids are so lame," she said, "They seem like such children now."

Jason's gaze appeared inpenetratable.

"You were one yourself not too long ago," Jason said, "You haven't been a teenager for very long at all."

Spinnelli listened in fascination as pretty much anything that Stone Cold did fascinated him.

"What brought you to my place," he asked.

Jason turned to look at him, ignoring the question.

"Why are you aiding and abetting Kristina ditching school?"

Spinnelli didn't know what to say.

"I met up with her at Coleman's place this morning," he said, "I thought my place might be a better location for her than the bar while I try to tell her how important it is to go to school."

Kristina rolled her eyes. Jason nodded thoughtfully.

"Then I suggest you wrap up your efforts and escort Kristina to her school," Jason said.

Spinnelli nodded.

"Mission accepted," he said.

"Kristina scowled but then smiled when Jason looked her way.

Jason turned back to the business he had with Spinnelli.

"Did you get that job done for me," he asked.

"Spinnelli nodded and reached in a drawer underneath a pile of papers for a folder. He handed it to Jason who accepted it without looking at it. With just a nod of his head at both of them, Jason left the room, closing the door behind him.

"What a guy," Kristina said.

Spinnelli looked at the teenaged girl and sighed. The aura which was Jason inspired similar feelings in many individuals of the fairer sex. If he could break down Jason into a computerized formula and bottle it into some software, he could make a fortune selling it.

Alexis picked up the phone and hoped that Diane was available to pick up her call. It rang a few times which upped Alexis' already high stress level.

"Hello Alexis, this had better be important because I'm on a killer streak here," an affectionately irate voice said.

Alexis took a deep breath to center herself.

"It's just been one of those days where Dante's inferno would look pretty good right now."

"That bad?"

"First I told you about my daughter, right? About how I tucked her into bed and she was a little girl and now she's a surly teenager with a belly ring."

"Yes you did," Diane said patiently.

"Well now I just found out from someone on the street that I slept with the mayor of PC and I have no memory of it at all!"

Diane sighed.

"Were you drinking," she asked.

"No, not more than usual."

"Were you toking the 420 with that computer nerd again?"

Alexis laughed.

"Oh no, that was a onetime thing," she said, "I'm off drugs for good."

"So what's this about having sex with the mayor," Diane said, "Were you engaging in another risk taking exercise to prove something to yourself?"

"Oh no," Alexis insisted," I never slept with the mayor. I think I'd remember unless the sex was really that bad."

Diane dismissed that theory.

"No, he's pretty skilled…actually."

"And how would you know," Alexis asked.

"That's in the category of nondisclosure Alexis," Diane said.

"But you just disclosed it," Alexis insisted, "What was it like?"

"You should know my dear," Diane said, "You slept with him."

"No no," Alexis said, "The last guy I had sex with was Jerry…Craig or whoever and I definitely remember that though I'd love to forget it."

"We all would," Diane said, "but he hangs around like a bad odor."

"Speaking of which," Alexis said, "He dropped by today wanting some sort of reconciliation."

Diane sighed.

"What did you do Alexis," she said.

"I did a few of those defensive moves you taught me and shoved him out the door," she said.

Diane smiled on her end.

"Good for you, Alexis," she said, "Let's hope he stays away."

Alexis agreed but had her doubts.

Kristina walked into the classroom and sat in the back. All the kids looked totally unfamiliar to her. As did the teacher. She droned the teacher's voice out and started doodling in her notebook about Jason. He was definitely the most attractive looking man in town. Why didn't she notice that yesterday? She didn't think about much except that for some reason, this morning her attraction to him hit her like a lightning bolt. Not that it really mattered. Kristina was in love.

Spinnelli ran into Maxie at the diner where she still sat working on her reports. He brought himself a soda and joined her.

"How things going with you and Kristina," she asked.

"Lil' Krissy is back in school as we speak," he said, "though she's certainly not little anymore.

Maxie shrugged.

"So she had a growth spurt," she said, "It happened to me."

"How is your work with The Glacial One going," Spinelli said.

Maxie made a face.

"It's taken me all morning," she said, "and I still don't have the damn thing finished."

"Maybe you've been working too hard and need a break," Spinelli said.

She shook her head.

"I don't think I can take a break until I have this report done," Maxie said, "Yeah I know my working for Kate is a ruse but I like the fashion industry. I can see myself working in it some day."

"For you, all is possible," Spinelli said, "You can do anything you put your mind to, my fair Maximista."

She smiled.

"Why thank you Spinelli," she said, kissing him.

He swooned from the sensation of her lips.

"So anything else happened," Maxie asked.

"Stone Cold came by to pick up the report I did for him," Spinelli said.

"Did he have much to say," Maxie asked.

Spinelli frowned.

"Something unusual did happen," he said, "He seemed to notice a difference in Kristina that perhaps I and others have missed."

Maxie leaned forward.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"He seemed to remember her being a little girl only a short while ago," he said.,

She laughed.

"So what's odd about that," she said, "all teenagers began life as little girls and time often seems to fly when you look back at it."

He shook his head.

"No, this seemed different than what you or might do," Spinelli said, "I think Jason might have sensed a temporal difference."

She put up her hands.

"Now, you're sounding like science fiction," she said.

"Science yes, but fiction, not at all," he said, "I have read much documentation about temporal changes and how they affect people."

Maxie rolled her eyes.

"I saw a few X-Files episodes…"

He frowned.

"You don't believe me," he said, "Why don't you have faith?"

"Because this is a bit of a stretch, don't you think," she said.

"Wait a minute," Spinelli said, "Weren't there vampires once in this town?"

"Urban myth," Maxie said, "from some people at GH who probably hit the medicine cabinet too many times."

"We shall see," Spinelli said, "Or I shall see, I intend to look into this matter myself."

She nodded.

"You do that and then report back to me what you find," she said.

He resigned himself that his girlfriend didn't believe in what he said, while she continued to talk about what a terrible person Kate was and two tables away, someone listened very closely.


	5. Chapter 5

Kristina wasn't much of a doodler, in fact she really didn't like art, but as she looked down halfway through some class, math maybe, at her notebook she saw scribbles of hearts and flowers surrounding her name and that of Jason Morgan.

She reacted in shock at first and then her eyes flitted quickly around the class to see if anyone had noticed her artwork. But everyone else remained either preoccupied in the assignment or in making the classmate in closest proximity to them absolutely miserable. Kristina just sighed, and covered up her notebook with her hand.

Mercifully the bell rang and she grabbed her things and ran out of the classroom, where she quickly collided with Johnny Zacchara, one of the hottest kids in school. Granted, Johnny was also the oldest kid in the high school having flunked several grades and being forced by the local judge to return to school to make up all the classes that he had missed. Still, he spent most of his days ditching school and hanging out with his latest girlfriend, Olivia, PC's local cougar of choice since Felicia retired back to Texas and Tracy took herself off the market by marrying Luke. Kristina wondered what he saw in the older woman. Sure she was hot for someone whose best years were clearly behind her and she dressed in dresses cut to here but why would any hot young stud like Johnny pick someone older than dust in the first place?

Johnny finally noticed her after he made sure that none of his body parts had been damaged in his collision with Kristina. Satisfied that even every hair stood in its proper place, he finally took a look at the teenager and did a double take. It looked like she had grown six inches overnight and some inches in other places as well. His face nearly flushed for thinking about Kristina in that way. After all, not long ago she had only been about six years old. How quickly time flied whether or not you were having fun but he had to stop thinking about her as anything but the little girl she had been just yesterday. If her father had got wind that any older guys were lusting after his princess, there would be hell to pay and any prospective Romeos would be crawling home with bullets lodged in their knees and a couple of other choice places. Johnny took pride in his body the way it was, knowing that it was his only chance of working his way up PC's brutal food chain so naturally he didn't want to do anything to endanger its pristine condition.

"So doll face, what are you doing here," Johnny said, "I thought you were at PC Elementary."

She glared at him from beneath her thick mascara.

"That's for babies," she said, "And I'm a young woman now. I just started attending this school and it's already boring me to distraction."

He held up his hands to ward off her defensiveness but Kristina scowled knowing he was just mocking her, treating her like the child she was not.

"O-kay so you've moved up in the world" he said, "So you're all grown up now and ready to take it on, I see."

She frowned at him, tossing her hair back.

"And you're repeating your senior year for what…the third time? Wouldn't that be called moving on down?"

This minx who had sprung up overnight had a sassy mouth on her.

"Only the second," he said, "But I'm a busy guy with a lot on my plate. I don't have much time for spending hours each day with a bunch of underdeveloped kids being programmed into the next round of PC robots."

Kristina raised her brow.

"So why are you here today?"

His face grew sullen.

"My sister Claudia said she'd break both of my legs if I ditched school again," he said, "She's worse than a mother."

"She's a scary looking woman," Kristina agreed, "Why does she wear dark clothes all the time? Is she like gothic?"

Johnny laughed.

"No, she's Claudia," he said, "Our family situation is way too complicated to explain in the school hallway."

"Try me," Kristina said, "Somehow I don't see my latest stepmother who dresses like a gloomy tramp as being all that complicated.

Johnny didn't like the references to his sister, but he couldn't really launch a convincing argument against them so he changed the subject instead.

"What were you doing hanging out with Spinelli at Coleman's bar this morning," he asked.

"He was teaching me how to play pool," she said.

"If you ever play for money which is the only way to do it right," he said, "You'll need a better tutor than him to teach you."

"Yeah I know," she said, "I was thinking of asking Jason Morgan to give me some tips on my game."

Johnny's jaw dropped open.

"You're kidding right," he said, "Kristina, honey you need to stay away from him."

She sneered.

"Stop calling me 'honey' and Jason's way cool," she said, "I think he would be a wonderful teacher in pool…and other things."

"Kristina, what the hell are you talking about," he said, "You're just a little.."

But then he looked at her and noticed again that she had changed, her rail thin body had fleshed out and become more rounded. Her eyes more large, her lips full, her breasts…. When the hell did this all happen?

"I'm all women now," she preened, "by next week, I'll be in high school at the rate I'm going."

"Yeah right," he said.

She reached out and touched his arm, with her manicured fingernail marking a trail down to his hand. He removed it as if he'd been burned.

She fluttered her eyelashes and puckered her lips.

"What's the matter," she said, "You not like that?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Does your mother know you've got a thing going with Jason," he asked, thinking that would certainly give Alexis a coronary.

Kristina sighed and crossed her arms.

"My mom has no idea what I'm doing," she said, "She's too busy being the DA of all PC to even know that I exist. She still sees me as that little girl."

Johnny sensed a hint of melancholy in her voice.

"I'm sure your mother loves you very much," he said, "She's just got a lot on her plate prosecuting everyone in town, including half my family."

Alexis pulled out her Blackberry and tried to bring up her daily planner. She flipped through it, from one day's worth of activities to the next, looking for the dates that she had slept with the mayor of Port Charles. Somehow she wasn't surprised to see that none of these alleged liaisons appeared in any of her daily schedules. She sat down at the table in the diner and sipped her herbal tea laced with some home-brought scotch in relief.

She reached for her phone.

"Alexis, is that you again," Dianne

said, wearily.

"Did I interrupt you at a bad time," she said.

"Max might think so," Dianne said, "He was just about to demonstrate a rather exotic…"

Alexis cheeks flamed at just the idea of her best frenemy rolling in the sack with Sonny's loyal if somewhat incompetent bodyguard at some Vegas Casino hotel .

"I'm sorry to interrupt your…well…"

"The best sex I've ever had," Dianne finished.

"Yeah…whatever," Alexis said, flustered.

"So what's the problem," Dianne said, "Your daughter or the mayor?"

Alexis tried to take another sip of her drink to calm herself enough to continue.

"Well, you know when I told you that I heard that I had sex with the mayor," she said.

"Oh yes, I remember that," Dianne said, "and you couldn't remember if it was good or bad."

"No, no, no," Alexis said, "I don't remember having sex with the guy at all. And that's all I've been hearing about is that I had some lurid affair with the man."

Silence greeted Alexis as Dianne took some time to digest her words.

"Are you still there," said Alexis acting as if this phone call were her lifeline.

"Yes…Max is checking his suitcase for the…oh never mind…," Dianne said, "So are you sure you didn't just experience a memory blackout and just forgot you slept with the mayor?"

"No, no, I know I never did," she said, "You see if I did, I would have scheduled it in my planner and if it were in my planner, it would be in my Blackberry and when I checked my Blackberry…"

"I get it Alexis," Diane said, interrupting her.

"So I know I never slept with him," she said, "Yet someone called me on the phone from the PC Inquirer and told me that photos had been sent to them of myself and the mayor in flag delecto in bed together."

"Really," Dianne said, "How interesting."

"Although technically, not all of them involved a bed," Alexis rattled on.

"Have you seen these photos?"

Alexis put her hand through her hair.

"Well no, but you know I couldn't have done something like this," she said, "The only wild sex I had was with Jerry and we know how that turned out."

"Well, it's not like you've been a nun exactly," Dianne said, "but you tend to have long droughts between sexual interludes and then you get pregnant when you do do the deed."

"Yeah, I wonder about that," Alexis mused, "Oh dear, maybe I should go out and get a test done just in case something happened this time."

Dianne looked up from where she was lying and saw Max heading towards her with something made of leather.

"You do that Alexis and if anything else comes up, give me a call," she said, "I've got a man waiting for me."

Alexis sat and tried to make sense of the whole situation but the more she tried, the more confused she became. This day had been a nightmare from the time she had gotten out of bed and discovered her beloved little girl Kristina had become a surly teenager and then there were the twin visits of bad boys past and now she just found out she had sex with the mayor and a scandal had begun to emerge!

Just when she thought it couldn't be worse, she remembered she still had to talk to Sonny about their wayward daughter. Damn, it was days like this she wished she could stay in bed and just pull her 700 thread sheets over her head for the rest of the day.

Kristina followed him, always one block ahead, ducking behind trees and light posts when he looked behind him. Jason had always seemed to have built in radar for being aware of everything and everyone around him which was downright uncanny. But if he knew she was tailing him, he kept it to himself. She watched as he went into Coleman's where he met up with a skinny brunette with large breasts. Damn, it was her sister, Samantha. Okay, technically they were only half-sisters because apparently when her mother was a teenager, she had gotten pregnant and had given birth to a daughter that she had completely forgotten about. After all, if Alexis had remembered she had another daughter, you would think that when Kristina had been lying near death with aplastic anemia several years ago, that her mother would have traveled the ends of the earth to find her half-sister. The only explanation was to chalk it up to some serious case of amnesia.

Kristina crept closer to where Jason met up with Sam, hiding behind the garbage bin so she could hear what they were saying.

"Oh Jason, I just can't deny these feelings that I've had for you so long," Sam said, breathlessly.

Jason looked her over casually.

"I can see now that you are the one for me," he said.

She smiled.

"So does that mean you're over Liz?"

Jason's eyebrows wrinkled.

"What does she have to do with this," he said, "We share a child together but my lifestyle is putting his own welfare in danger."

Sam nibbled her lip.

"You're not upset about that dalliance that I had with her husband?"

Jason raised a brow.

"Any reason why I should be," he said, "After all, it's only natural for you to take that course."

She put her hands in her pockets.

"What do you mean?"

"Sam, we both know that every time one man rejects you, you just hop into bed with another one. After all that's how we got together."

She opened up her mouth in shock.

"I do not," she said, folding her arms.

"Sam, when you found out about me and Liz, you seduced your own stepfather," he said, "and then there's the time…"

"Oh just drop it," she said, "Let's go in and play some pool."

Kristina watched the couple go in the diner with a smile widening her face. Oh how perfect! Kristina had believed that Sam would prove to be her largest obstacle in her pursuit of Jason Morgan but after this conversation, she realized that Jason had just gone back to her on the rebound from Liz who was the rebound from Sam and so forth. If she played her cards carefully and didn't make the mistakes that these women clearly had made, she could win the man of her dreams!

She walked down the street whistling under her breath.


	6. Chapter 6

Kristina's sighting of the squabble between ultra cool Jason and her somewhat skanky half-sister Sam made her day. No, it made her entire week. For the first time, she saw a clear path between herself and the coolest and sexiest man in PC which was Jason Morgan. Jason had dumped Sam for a while to hang out with one of his ex-girlfriends Liz who got pregnant with his child and then decided she didn't want to hang out with a man who brought danger and death around her and her children so she dumped him and inertia brought her back to Sam's door. It had to be nothing more than that which reunited the two, because Sam rarely even had a real job and no real taste in clothes. Pushing her out of the picture would be a cinch, Kristina thought.

Kristina had been a toddler when she met her long-lost sister who had been born under a shroud of mystery and without a father as well. Alexis didn't talk much about the circumstances surrounding Sam's birth and the years she had spent separated from her mother before she suddenly appeared and was embraced into Alexis' family tree without having to take a DNA test

. Kristina had always assumed that the silence her mother held on the matter meant that Sam must have been spawned from a real live demon and that Alexis couldn't come to terms that she had hooked up with the ultimate in bad boys. What other explanation could there be for having a mother who had completely forgotten that she had a daughter years ago even when that knowledge could have saved Kristina's life? And Sam looked the part.

The way her mother told the story, she had focused her search for a donor to save Kristina's life on Sam because the child she carried shared a father with Kristina, that being Sonny a man blessed with a brooding personality that dysfunctional women found irresistible and super sperm that enabled him to get a woman pregnant just like looking at her. Then Sam had somehow lost her baby and Alexis had lost what would have been her first grandchild.

But Sonny, Kristina's father did have a way of looking at a woman that would make her want to jump into bed with him and many a woman did. Somehow Kristina couldn't picture a suave cosmopolitan yet street smart guy like Sonny Corrinthos doing the horizontal with her uptight mother and Alexis had never provided much in the way of details involving her conception.

It had taken more than looking at him for Alexis to find herself in the position of taking a pregnancy test so clearly sex was involved in the equation somewhere but clearly her parents weren't still together. Instead, Sonny had hooked up with an assortment of neurotic women, the latest being Bridezella who had also gotten pregnant with his child. Kristina couldn't stand Claudia especially her attempts to cozy up to her half-brother Michael who had just gotten out of the hospital after having his brain unscrambled by surgeons, after it had spent two years in a coma. He had spent that time bedbound after he had been shot while being in the wrong place at the wrong time of another one of PC's regular mob shootouts. What Kristina couldn't figure out was how Mikey could have grown two feet and lost a thick crop of carrot hair without one single doctor noticing anything strange about that. She had visited him several times at the hospital when Claudia hadn't draped herself all over him, but Michael seemed to be mostly a young man hard wired to be angry at everyone.

Kristina turned around to walk back to Coleman's bar to look in the window into the smoky bar to watch Jason play some rounds of pool with an assortment of touch looking guys with tattoos who walked away broke and shaking their heads. She sighed and her knees felt weak. Maxie walked up behind her.

"He's not bad looking if you like the hard core mobster type," she said, "but he's out of your league."

Kristina shrugged.

"A girl can look, can't she," she said, "It doesn't mean we're an item."

Maxie looked at the younger girl who used to be much younger than her and saw herself in her shoes. After all, she had crushed out on older guys too, only she had pretty much skipped her teen years and had gone straight into young womanhood. She felt she had some advice to pass along to someone who had been where she had been…oh about a year ago…but would Kristina be any better a listener than she had been?

"Come on Kristina," she said, "Why don't we go to the diner, buy a coke and have a little talk about men."

Kristina scoffed.

"Only if the coke comes with bourbon," she said.

"Not unless you want to spend the night drying out in the PC jail," Maxie said, "and I can say from experience that's not a good time."

Kristina brushed her hair off of her shoulders.

"That's probably because you lived with the commissioner," Kristina said, "Which is got to be better than living with the D.A."

Maxie shrugged.

"All I can say is that I know what it's like to live in a strict household," she said, "I just can't remember what most of my childhood was like but I can certainly understand what you're going through."

Kristina doubted that but decided to head off to the diner with her anyway because she was treating. They both walked away from Coleman's bar with Kristina taking a last glance into the window where Jason prepared to rack the balls for another game.

Alexis waited in the office until Sonny got off the phone with one of his business associates. He had held up his hand when he saw her enter the room. Claudia, being her usual Bridezella self, glowered in the corner. Alexis decided to ignore her, as she did with all the women that Ric and Sonny shared these days.

Sonny finally got off the phone and then turned toward her smiling.

"I take it this is not a personal visit," he said, gesturing her to sit down.

"It's about Kristina," Alexis said getting right to the point, "She's become a rebellious teenager over night."

Sonny put his hands together and brooded.

"I saw her yesterday," he said, "In fact I had the bodyguard pick her up from kindergarten."

"I tucked a younger girl into bed last night," Alexis said, "or so I thought until I woke up this morning. I thought it was a bad dream."

Sonny stood still, his fingers rubbing against his lips.

"Maybe she just looks older," she said, "She's always been tall for her age."

Alexis sighed in exasperation.

"Sonny, she has a belly piercing," she said.

His brows shot up.

"A what," he said, "When did that happen?"

"That's my point," Alexis said, "I don't know when she had it done. Last night, she was just a little girl."

"So what do you want me to do about it," he asked, looking pensive.

"Oh… I don't know…nothing…dispense some reassurance that I'm just imagining all this," she said, "but I realize that none of this is your forte."

Sonny nodded.

"I could talk with her," he said, "take her out to lunch at her favorite place with the playground."

"Sonny, she's not a little girl," Alexis said, "She doesn't do playgrounds anymore."

That put him at a loss.

"I could take her shopping," he said, "Maybe Claudia would like to go."

Alexis looked at Sonny in horror.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come," she said.

Sonny's temper flared.

"She's my daughter too Alexis," he said, "I will spend some time with her and find out what's going on."

Alexis broke out into a smile and even kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you Sonny," she said, "Maybe between the two of us we can get to the bottom of this."

Sonny shrugged.

"If there's anything to get to the bottom of," he said, "What's happening to her is probably very normal in a girl…her age."

"I just want to make sure my Kristina's all right," Alexis said, before leaving the room. Sonny looked at the mother of his oldest child leave and just shook his head. Claudia just watched him before jumping up and waving her arms around.

"Sonny, how can you just let that woman talk to you that way," she asked.

"She's the mother of my oldest daughter Claudia," Sonny said, "She's just worried about our daughter and when she gets worried, she just gets a little…."

"Crazy?"

Sonny smiled.

"That and more," he said, "but she wasn't in full form today. You should see her some day when she gets to that point."

Claudia shook her head.

"I think I'll go and visit Michael," she said, "I have a whole list of songs for his iPod and I can see if he…remembers anything more about his former life."

Sonny sighed.

"Now don't push him too hard," he said, "He's in a volatile state right now. I'm wondering if he has the same condition that Jason got in that accident."

"Don't even say his name in the same sentence with Jason," Claudia said, "Michael's a sweet young boy, not a trained sociopathic hitman."

Sonny scowled and waved his finger.

"I'm worried about him so don't say anything that will upset him," he said.

"Have I ever," Claudia said, before skulking out of the room.

Sonny looked at her for a long time as she left then picked up the phone to make a call.

Kristina and Maxie once again settled at the diner where most of the edgy residents of PC hung out at one time or another and Maxie began the task of trying to teach Kristina what it meant to be literally a teenager almost over night. Of course, Kristina having just undergone the experience didn't see it that way as she felt every inch the teenager that she looked. It's just that her memory had weakened in spots and she couldn't remember key moments of having reached that stage in her young life.

"It's not easy but you'll get through it," Maxie said, patting the younger girl's hand, "I did just fine."

"But what about your sister," Kristina said, "I kind of remember you having one. For a brief second, she was in my mind as a little girl but she was older than I am now when she died."

Maxie's face clouded over at the mention of Georgie's death.

"Ah yes," she said, "Georgie on some level seemed to grow up even faster than I did," she said, "Not that it helped her. It might have gotten her killed."

Kristina frowned.

"I don't want to end up like that," she said, "I just want my mom to lay off with the over protectiveness, my father to remember he has a daughter and not just two sons and to have a really hot boyfriend."

Maxie nodded her head, impressed.

"Those are certainly worthwhile goals at your age," she said, "Of course next week who knows, you might be older than me and then you'll have to reset your goals."

Kristina looked at her latte.

"This is just so complicated," she said, "I mean I could have sworn I shared a stroller with my younger sister Molly not too long ago and now I can carry her."

"You might as well hold onto to that memory because by next week, Molly could be stealing your clothes, the family car and going after the same guys you want."

"Wow," she said, "Life is so unpredictable that way. Is it like that everywhere or just PC?"

Maxie couldn't answer that question.

"I don't know, but there's a lot about PC that's mysterious," she said, "People don't stay dead, there's rumors that a family of vampires lived around here and if you want to travel across town or to another country, all you have to do is go up or down a flight of stairs and there you are."

Kristina's eyes widened.

"I'll have to try that one someday," she said.

Suddenly, someone entered the diner and both girls stopped talking to wonder why he had come within their midst.


	7. Chapter 7

Kristina thought that maybe it was long past time for her to pay a visit to her father, but if the truth be told, he kind of weirded her out. Not because of what he did for a living as an importer of (cough)coffee(cough) but because more than once, she had caught him engaging in some rather strange activities when he thought no one was looking.

There was the time she had peered into his parlor when he had stood in front of the bureau mirror repeating the phrase, "you are dead to me" over and over. Then there was the way he collected wives and girlfriends often at the same time and everyone seemed to get along more or less without killing each other. Kristina tried to count the current members of Sonny's harem which included Bridezilla, Countess Kate, Olivia the Couger and Revolving Door Carly. But what could you say, there were women that Sonny married and then there were women that he just slept with and who clearly didn't have the ovaries to blackmail him into walking down the aisle. And Kristina figured out at a pretty young age which group included her mother as a card carrying member.

Sonny's latest bride did have all that he usually asked for in a woman and more and the one thing that Kristina could say about her was that she made Sonny's serial wife, Carly, seem a bit less freaky in retrospect. But then she had a feeling that Bridezilla freaked everyone out, except for her uncle Ric, who had also for a brief period of time been her step-father. Oh yeah, Ric, another addition to the list that detailed Daddy's weirdness factor.

Still, Kristina couldn't dwell too much on her father because she and Maxie were busy plotting how Kristina could get herself a hot guy.

"Maybe you shouldn't set your sights on Jason," Maxie cautioned, "Every woman who hangs around with him shrinks from being an independent career woman into a doormat in less than a year."

"I think he's just so hot," Kristina said, "I mean, that hair. Who in PC can match that?"

Maxie had to agree that Kristina did have a point there. Jason did have nice hair that defied certain natural laws, but ….

"All his girlfriends either wind up getting shot or beat up by his enemies," she said, "or they have to patch up his bullet wounds."

"Oh that sounds so... romantic," Kristina said, "so much better than getting dumb old flowers or candy."

Maxie looked at her charge and just sighed. She had so much of her father and mother in her looks which meant she would be breathtaking by the time she did grow up which could be at the rate she was going by the end of the month. Yet, she also had both sets of genes melded into her personality which might not necessarily be a good thing. Mixing Corinthos blood with that belonging to the Cassadine dynasty was just asking for trouble. But now that the product of such a volatile cauldron of DNA had come asking her for advice on men, Maxie felt obligated to keep her on the straight and narrow path.

They both stopped talking when they saw Olivia sashay through the door of the diner and walk up to the counter to order her daily jolt of java. Every man and most of the women in the place gazed at her in awe as she passed them.

"Why do they do that," Kristina asked, somewhat annoyed.

Maxie smiled.

"Because Olivia has landed herself a much younger and very hot young man," she said, "They all want to know what she's got."

Kristina rolled her eyes.

"She's an old lady, like my mom."

Maxie sighed.

"She's not that old really," she said, "and whatever she's got, Johnny clearly wants it."

Kristina detected a note of both pride and wistfulness in Maxie's voice.

"I thought you liked Johnny," she said, "You spend a lot of time looking at him."

Maxie shook her head quickly.

"Oh no," she said, "I'm totally down with my boyfriend."

"You mean Spinelli," Kristina said, "The nerdy guy who gives us all fancy nicknames that somehow make sense."

Maxie grinned.

"What is on the surface of a man is not all that's there," she said, "and Spinelli is like an iceberg, 90% of what makes him such a great guy is below the surface. You can't see it."

Kristina frowned.

"Well, then wherever there's an iceberg, there's got to be a Titanic somewhere, right?"

Maxie narrowed her eyes.

"I guess," she said, "but Johnny and I, we could never get together. He's not my type."

Kristina thought that Johnny looked pretty hot but being kin to Bridezilla was enough to knock him off her to-do list.

"He's not bad looking but not my type either," Kristina said, "Besides he's not Jason."

"Kristina honey," Maxie said, "They don't come around often like Jason. Besides he wasn't born, he was made as a result of a horrible, tragic car accident."

"I heard about that," Kristina said, "and how it changed him from a cute but bland beach boy doctor into a friggin' hot mobster babe."

Maxie sighed at the glow of excitement on the younger girl's face.

"Something like that," she said, "and the young girls in PC Junior High are already lining up placing bets on Michael undergoing the same transformation and who will land him first."

Kristina wrinkled her nose.

"Well his hair changed color so no one can call him Carrot Top anymore," she said, "That's a start."

Maxie looked up and saw Olivia grab her java jolt and come walking towards their table.

"Guess who's coming this way," she said, less than thrilled.

Alexis called Diane who hadn't yet returned from her romp in Las Vegas with Max on the phone to update her on her own investigation into her alleged affair with the mayor.

"Hello…Diane are you there?"

Diane picked up the phone. Max sighed next to her as he realized that the leather whip and cuffs were going to have to wait.

"Yes, this is she," Diane said, "Darling, this had better be important."

Alexis inhaled. Just breathe, she said to herself like a mantra.

"Just what?"

"Oh nothing…I was just thinking of my visit that I just had with Kristina's father…Sonny."

"Yes and did you two go a couple rounds again," Diane asked.

"Yes…no, actually he seemed concerned that I was concerned about what's been going on with our daughter."

"You mean the growth spurt she's currently experiencing?"

Alexis tried to keep from hyperventilating.

"Growth spurt," she said, "This is no such thing. I put my daughter to bed and she was a little girl and now…"

"She's a teenager," Diane said, "Yeah I know. This happens to every mother. Their children grow up too fast."

"I'm speaking more literally," Alexis said, "But Sonny just said he would spend more time with her like take her to the playground."

Diane laughed.

"Sounds like someone's not keeping up with the times," she said.

"That's what I told him," Alexis said, "Then he suggested that she go shopping with his latest wife, that thing…Claudia."

"Ahh, yes," Diane said, "I would advise you to keep Kristina as far away from that creature as possible."

"I intend to do just that."

Diane changed the subject.

"I thought you were calling about your torrid romp with the mayor," she said.

"There is no torrid romp," she said, "I could have sworn he…I…we never did the…"

"Horizontal mambo," Diane suggested, "Maybe you did it standing up."

"We didn't do anything at all," Alexis said, barely holding onto her temper.

"Alexis, you told me yourself there were photos…"

"All fake," she said, "If I had slept with him, I would have remembered it and if I didn't, I would have scheduled it on my Blackberry."

"Maybe you got all spontaneous and forgot to do that," Diane said.

"I wouldn't forget so I know that we never slept together," Alexis said, "This is just crazy and it's going to be all over the PC tabloids by tomorrow."

"How do you know?"

"Because that horrid "Good Morning PC" reporter, Candy or whatever has been leaving me messages to do breakfast with her."

"Oh that's not good," Diane said, "Well, Alexis got to go. I've got a man here waiting."

Alexis' cheeks flushed.

"Oh…okay, you run along," she said, "I'll handle my life falling apart on this end of the line."

But Diane had already hung up. Alexis sighed and put her phone away when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

She almost screamed.


	8. Chapter 8

Alexis turned around and saw that her first and still favorite husband Jax had tapped her on the shoulder. Oh, you've got to pull yourself together, she said to herself. If a guy like sweetheart Jax made you jump, it was time to start thinking about some serious therapy.

"Alexis, don't tell me I surprised you," Jax said, taking her into a tight embrace.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of being held so close to one of the most handsome, sexiest and wealthiest men in Pt. Charles. She loved him dearly and never slept with him because 1) she didn't want to ruin such a great friendship and 2) Jax was not nearly dangerous enough. And Alexis had to face facts. She only swooned over dangerous men who were either criminals or sociopaths or better yet, embraced both qualities with equal enthusiasm.

Oh yes, there had been Ned, who had patiently waited for her to commit to a solid relationship with him but when the day of their wedding approached, off ran the bride. Ned's heart had been shattered in more pieces than she probably knew and he had never been quite the same since even while being pursued by that Lois retread and raising his teenaged daughter. But as cute as he was, he hadn't been nearly bad enough to knock her socks off either.

Alexis smiled at Jax.

"You know I feel nothing but the highest affection for you," she said, running her hands down her arms, "My mind was just running elsewhere."

He stooped to look closer into her eyes.

"I can see that," he said, "You look like you have a lot on your mind."

She rolled her eyes.

"I always have a lot on my mind," she said, "but this time, I had been at Sonny's talking to him about what's been going on with our daughter."

"At least he remembered he had one," Jax grumbled.

"Now Jax, he might be a bit…distracted these days but he's always been a good father to Kristina," Alexis said, "Okay, wait scratch that…but he's had his moments when he has time in his chaotic, frenetic and very dangerous schedule, he really does."

Jax shook his head.

"His own son is lying in the hospital just out of having his brain completely rebuilt because of Sonny's lifestyle blowing up in his face," Jax said, "How many lives lost or ruined by his so-called coffee importing business?"

Alexis sighed.

"You're talking to the choir, Jax," she reminded him, "but he is her father and something serious is going on with Kristina."

Jax looked alarmed.

"Is she ill," he asked, "Has she been hurt?"

Alexis shook her head furiously.

"No…no," she said, then her voice dropped, "She just is…different."

Jax smiled.

"It's called growing up," he said, "She can't stay a little girl forever."

"Then you know…"

His face looked puzzled.

"Know what?"

"That she's not a little girl anymore," Alexis said, "She's a rebellious, sullen teenager."

Jax laughed.

"That's hardly anything to be alarmed about," he said, "I've heard it's a phase."

"No Jax," she said, "You don't understand. I put a little girl to bed last night and woke up this morning and now I have a teenager."

His brows rose.

"Really?"

She frowned.

"And I think I'm getting wrinkles," Alexis said, "or I should be if I have a teenager for a daughter."

"You have a woman in her 20s that's a daughter too," Jax said.

Alexis sighed unhappily.

"I know," she said, "and the only thing we have in common is our taste in men."

"Well, Alexis you and I…we never…"

Her face reddened.

"Oh I know, but you get what I'm saying here."

He had to admit that she had a point.

Alexis ran her hand through her hair.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with her," she said, "She acts like she hates me."

"She's your daughter," Jax said, "She loves you. She's just at an age where it's not cool to show it, that's all."

"I'm one to talk," Alexis said, "I mean, I had sex and got pregnant, had a baby when I was a teen and forgot all about it. At least I think I did. I wasn't thinking about it when Kristina was seriously ill and needed a donor."

"You were probably just stressed."

"Who could be that stressed," Alexis said.

Jax tried not to smile.

"And if that's not enough," Alexis said, "I had sex with the mayor and forgot about that too."

Jax looked stunned.

"What are you saying," he said, "You…the mayor…really?"

Alexis took a deep breath.

"Yes really," she said, "According to these pictures that Good Morning Port Charles has threatened to air on live television."

"How could you forget about you and the mayor," Jax said, looking as imagining such a scenario was downright impossible.

Alexis threw up her hands.

"I…I don't know," she said, "I mean I checked my planner and there's nothing there. Am I going crazy?"

Jax said nothing, not having an easy answer to her question.

Kristina sat and watched as Lucky Spencer ambled on by their table at the diner.

"Now there's a fine looking man," she said.

Maxie shook her head.

"You don't want him," she said, "Good on the eyes but those Spencers are trouble."

Kristina grew intrigued and raised her brow.

"Oh really," she said, "Tell me more about him."

Maxie shrugged.

"There's not much to tell," she said, "He had a brief fling with Sam but he's trying to get back with Liz. They're like childhood sweethearts."

Kristina looked smug.

"Liz isn't all that," she said, "Drama queen if you ask me."

"Well, she's got Lucky wrapped around her finger these days," Maxie said, "She did the horizontal with Jason and had his kid and Lucky still wants her back."

Kristina slunk back in her seat.

"How can a woman like Liz have two of PC's most hottest looking guys fighting over her," she said, shaking her head, "I just don't get it."

"We're lucky we even have any hot guys left," Maxie said with a sigh, "With most of them getting murdered by deranged serial killers. That is if they aren't actually serial killers themselves."

Kristina sipped her drink.

"I still think Jason's the hottest guy," she said, "so I think I'll go ask him out."

Maxie nearly choked on her drink.

"Honey, have you ever heard of a term called 'jail bait'?"

Kristina looked nonplussed.

"Well yeah, but…"

"He could go to jail in this town just for looking at you," Maxie said, "and your mom's the DA and she'd just fry his ass without a trial."

Kristina nodded.

"You're probably right," she said, "I don't think my mom even wants me talking to a guy let alone Jason."

Maxie nodded sagely.

"Better drop him off of your list."

Kristina shrugged.

"But who knows," she said, "If it's true I'm aging faster, by the end of next week I might not be jail bait anymore and my mom can't boss me around about who I can and can't date."

"You might have a point," Maxie said, reluctantly, "but it might just be better to set your sights on someone else."

Kristina had no intention of doing that. She had picked her man and no one and nothing was going to stop her from landing him as her boyfriend. The rest of PC would just have to deal.

"It's going to be all right, Alexis," Jax said, "These scandals have a way of blowing over quickly. This is a town of short attention spans."

She shook her head.

"I don't think so Jax," she said, "They're claiming I slept with the mayor to keep my job as D.A."

"But you don't remember a thing about this liaison?"

"No," Alexis said, "but I saw the photos and it's definitely me. Though I have to admit, I have never thought of myself as so wanton…"

He grabbed her hands.

"Well if you need my support," he said, "You know you have it without asking."

She nodded and thanked him.

"I just wish I knew who was behind this all," she said, "I'll bet it's Ric, that bastard ex-husband of mine."

Jax looked away. He knew she could be right.

"Where's he been lately anyway," he said, "Crawled back underneath his rock somewhere?"

"He's been sleeping with Sonny's latest wife, Claudia," she said, "Why is it that they always share their women?"

Jax didn't even want to go down that road. After all, Alexis, Sam, Carly...all three men had them in common in one way or another. Speaking of which... looked up the street and saw his own beloved, his newest wife Carly.

Alexis saw her too.

"Look I'll be going," she said, kissing Jax on the cheek, "Thanks as always for your love and support."

"Any time," he said, watching her go shaking his head and then steeling himself to deal with his wife who didn't look happy at all.


	9. Chapter 9

Alexis picked up her cell phone. She was surprised to see Sonny, the father of her eldest daughter on the Caller ID since they had just spoken.

"Sonny, why are you calling me," she said.

"It's about Kristina," he said.

"What about her," she asked, "We just had a conversation about her."

He hesitated on the other end.

"I'm concerned with her because of all the rumors floating around that you had sex with the mayor."

Alexis' jaw dropped. Damned this latest trash talking about her and the mayor had legs. Who in Port Charles at this point hadn't heard the lurid details about a sexual romp she had with a man she detested that she couldn't even remember? Okay so maybe the rumored family of vampires who lived within their midst hadn't gotten wind but as soon as they left their coffins…Now look at her, she had gotten crazy enough by this mess to start believing in urban legends.

She felt herself begin to hyperventilate and wondered where she left her paper bag.

"Just breathe Alexis…"

"What did you just say," Sonny said, "I'm here to tell you I'm worried about how this latest…episode involving you and the mayor is going to impact her mind."

His words pissed Alexis off. She was really working on this anger management thing but he had crossed the line.

"I…did…not…has…sex…with…the…mayor," she said.

"Alexis, they have pictures of you two," he said, "I just had some crazy lady on 'Good Morning Port Charles' call me on the phone and ask me what I thought about them and you…and the mayor."

Her heart began to pound. This whole situation had gotten out of control so quickly. Now her paper bag wouldn't even calm her down even if she could find it. She thought about calling Spinelli to bring her some more grass to help the "Mother of the Goddess" find her bearings then dropped it. Even though Ric had disappeared again, he could still be lurking around town somewhere to use it against her to get custody of Molly.

"That's not me," Alexis insisted, "It's just someone who looks like me."

"Who has that same mole…you know where… just like you?"

Damn, he had her there. Fortunately she hadn't slept around town a lot so very few people knew about her beauty mark, proof positive she had Cassadine blood in her veins. She would just have to go on a celibacy kick and keep it that way until this whole situation died down and people found something else to gossip about around the water front.

"Well, maybe it's me," she admitted, "but I'm not sure. You see I don't remember a thing."

She heard a sigh on the other end.

"Don't tell me you've been smoking the happy grass again…"

She hated the chastising sound of his voice. How dare he judge her or her habits considering the background he came from as an on-and-off again (cough)coffee (cough) importer.

"No, I have not been doing any drugs," she said, "I just don't remember and I'm pretty sure those photos are forged. I wouldn't be surprised if your brother is behind it."

"Ric…no one's seen him," Sonny said, "He probably left town to find himself again. He asked Claudia to come with him but she's too smart to hang around a loser like him."

Now that stung. Too smart, meaning that she was smarter than a fully trained and experienced lawyer like Alexis? Claudia was a harpy who wore dark clothing and had sucked the life out of her ex-lover and father of her eldest daughter like a parasite.

"I hope you got a DNA test before she left," Alexis said, "to do a paternity test on Claudia's little bun in the oven."

"Why," Sonny said, "I know it's mine. I look at a woman and she gets pregnant."

She nearly laughed at that one. Still, it was almost true in her case.

"Sonny, look I know you're concerned but Kristina and I are just fine," Alexis said, "except for this little thing like tucking her in bed when she's a child and waking up and finding she's a rebellious teenager."

"Oh that," Sonny said, "I wouldn't worry about that. Look what a year-long coma did to Michael. He's out driving a sports car and I don't even remember him going to the DMV to get a license."

Kristina tailed her quarry, Jason as he walked down the street. She had lapsed in her pursuit several minutes while considering the hunky Lucky as an alternative in the boyfriend department but decided that Liz's claws weren't something that she really wanted to deal with so her resolve switched quickly enough back to Jason. After all, he and Liz were history and he had hooked back up with home-wrecking Sam. She knew she could hold her own against her half-sister to get her man.

Maxie hadn't been so sure but then again, she had still considered her the little girl with the bows in her hair from times not long ago. Kristina had so gotten past that painful part of her life. After all, look at her now, a teenager with a sense of fashion. Everyone who had teased her at school was just jealous of what she'd become.

"Hey Kristina."

She looked up, momentarily distracted from her focus on Jason and saw Lulu strolling towards her. Now Lulu, being a Spencer had an eye for graft but hadn't worked that muscle but instead, had inherited her mother's looks and her mental instability. She had been the apple of Johnny's eye for a while during the time they experienced that rite of passage that all young teenagers on the threshold of adulthood in PC did known as spending a summer "on the run". It didn't matter who you were running from, whether it was the mob, the police, your parents or even bad hair days. What was important was your choice in wardrobe and your set of wheels that you used to run away. Sometimes it brought couples closer together. Sometimes it broke them apart. Lulu hadn't come out of her experience in very good shape. Certainly, Kristina thought, that had been her problem and not Johnny's.

"Where you off to," Lulu asked, looking at Kristina who was standing behind a tree.

"Oh nowhere," Kristina said, casually with one eye on Lulu in case she did anything crazy and the other on a disappearing Jason.

"Would you like to go to the mall and do some shopping?"

Kristina looked up in surprise. She couldn't believe Lulu was actually asking to go anywhere with her let alone shopping. Her mother had always been tight with Lulu's father, the eccentric town legend who for some reason called her "Natasha" instead of by her real name but Kristina hadn't ever really gotten to know him or his children. She had heard about Lulu's escapades and wondered how she had been able to cram so many adventures or rather misadventures in such a short life.

"I mean, you look like you might need some new clothes," Lulu continued, "You've grown since I've seen you like…last week."

"You noticed," Kristina said, despite herself, "Yeah I've faced some definite wardrobe challenges."

"I can fix that…if you'd like," Lulu said, "I went through something like that myself."

"You have?"

"And there's no self-help groups for those of us who have," Lulu said with a sigh, "Although there should be."

"I don't need help," Kristina insisted, "I just need my mother to give me some space and my father to stop acting so strange."

"That's a tall order," Lulu said, "Parents can't always be the way we want them to be but it doesn't mean they don't love us."

"So you say," Kristina said.

"So I know," Lulu said, "Now why don't we get you some new threads?"

"I don't have much cash on me and my mother holds onto her credit cards with an iron fist."

Lulu shrugged.

"I'll let you borrow some money," she said, "from one teenager who grew up too fast to another at the cusp."

Kristina found herself following the older girl, fervantly hoping she hadn't inherited enough of her father's criminal nature to do her shopping with a five fingered discount.

Alexis never did find her paper bag but some herbal tea helped calm down her racing heart. She couldn't believe that something she did that she couldn't remember was sweeping through the gossip mill. She felt the itch to call up Diane again but she decided to leave her alone in Vegas with Max, her whips and leather for a while she thought up a plan of action.

She heard a knock on the door and in entered Robin, daughter of dashing spy Robert Scorpio and his sometimes wife, Anna. Robin had nixed the world of double crossing, espionage and intrigue to become a doctor. And she proved to be excellent in the profession particularly during the quarterly medical emergencies that defined the courtship of her to her husband and father of her adorable daughter, Patrick.

"Hi Alexis," Robin said, bringing her a basket of something that smelled very good.

Alexis looked a bit wary. After all, she had only actually interacted with Robin a handful of times over the years. They usually didn't hit the same haunts of PC at the same time.

"It's good to see you Robin," Alexis said, "Can I help you with anything?"

Robin sighed.

"No, actually I'm here to help you," she said, "I just heard that you…"

"Slept with the mayor," Alexis said, "Hasn't everybody in town heard that by now?"

Robin put the basket down.

"I believe you're innocent Alexis," she said, "and I'm here to help you."

"Help me," Alexis said, "We barely know each other. I mean we should know each other better but somehow we don't."

"That's water under the bridge," she said, "I'm here to clear your name."

"But I haven't done anything yet!"

Robin hesitated.

"You did hear about the mayor's other mistress."

"What do you mean other," Alexis said, "I never slept with him. If I did, I know I'd remember something even if it was lousy."

"I'm sorry, I mean the mayor had a lover and well…she's dead."

"Dead, really?"

"Alexis, where have you been," Robin said, "She's been murdered and they're probably going to question the mayor's other…well you know…"

Alexis frowned.

"I think I do," she said, "I think they're going to include me on the list of people to interrogate. Who was this mistress again? I never heard of any…"

"It was a woman in his office I think," Robin said, "but she's been declared dead by Mac and the coroner so they're drawing a list of suspects."

"Oh that's wonderful," Alexis said, "I guess I'll need a lawyer and the only one I know is in Vegas handcuffing her boyfriend…"

"What?"

Alexis blushed.

"I guess you don't need to know those details."

Robin grabbed Alexis' hand in her own.

"I just want you to know that I, my husband and baby Emma will be there for you," she said, "No matter what."

Alexis sighed but wondered if that would be enough. Once again, trouble was 'a brewing in PC and she was smack dab in the middle of it, not remembering a damn thing. Once again, she wondered if she should have taken the DA's job in Llanview.

Lulu and Kristina approached the mall, where there were plenty of clothing shops to choose from. They turned the corner past the ice cream shop and there he was. And before Kristina knew what happened, she ran smack into him.


	10. Chapter 10

Damn, he was hot!

That was the first thought that struck Kristina like a bolt of lightning when she looked up into his face. She could take the feeling that swept over her like a heat wave and bottle it up to sell it if about a dozen of PC's ingenues hadn't already done it and sold enough to retire in the Bahamas. For the first time in at least the day she had begun thinking of him, Jason slipped out of her mind and this hottie stepped into his place.

He placed his hands on her arms and her skin tingled beneath his touch. Her mouth opened and she was unable to close it. Lulu watched the metamorphosis taking place and simply shrugged. Obviously, Lulu wasn't as sensitive to the truly gorgeous members of the male sex as she was, Kristina thought. But soon enough, she forgot Lulu's presence and even her existence altogether. Something more important had taken over her line of vision.

"Are you okay," the man-god said, as he stopped her from falling.

She silently thanked him for that because if she went splat on the ground in front of him, she would never get over it without years of extensive counseling. And she didn't want to wind up like her mother.

"I…." she started.

He just smiled, waiting for her to continue but her cheeks flushed, which really wasn't like her.

"Yes," he said, waiting with a smile that ignited a flicker in her heart.

"I…," she started again, "I think I know you?"

He frowned slightly as if trying to place her. Kristina watched him and thought, oh my god he doesn't remember! She had seen him on the docks once flexing his arm while wearing a muscle shirt and some jeans and for a brief moment, he had glimpsed in her direction as if he had seen her hiding behind a wall. Of course, that had been a day or so, she thought. Maybe she had just imagined the whole thing. Maybe she didn't know for sure what happened because her memory of any day before she woke up this morning was a bit fuzzy.

"I don't think we've met," he said, "I think I'd remember if we did."

And her heart beat a hundred times faster like a moth fluttering in her chest. She placed her hand over it to still its cadence back to a manageable level. After all, she shouldn't appear too eager.

"I…saw you once," she said, "You probably didn't notice."

He shrugged and she took in his leather jacket and his tight jeans, boots on his feet. Typical tough guy apparel in PC picked up by any young man over the age of 15 at the same clothing corner store.

"I'm Dante," he said, sticking out his hand and she took it carefully.

"I'm…Kristina," she said, the feeling of his palm touching hers curling her toes and making her heart flutter even faster.

She felt faint and Lulu studied her for a moment.

"Are you okay," she asked.

Kristina nodded.

"Sure," she said, "It's just that running into…Dante is such a surprise."

"Uh-huh," Lulu said, doubtfully.

He smiled at both of them as he ran his hand through his hair.

"And you're Lulu, right?"

Lulu shrugged.

"Sure am," she said, "and you're new in town."

He nodded.

"I've just been here a little while but I think I'm going to stay…at least for a few months."

Lulu pursed her lips.

"Are you here on business…or pleasure?"

He gave that some thought. Kristina loved watching him thinking…standing…anything but wait a minute, he was focusing his attention on Lulu and not her!

"Both," he said, reaching into his back pocket of his jeans and whipping out a comb to run through his darkened locks.

Now Kristina was really in trouble.

"You…. You…" she stuttered.

His brows raised.

"What you trying to say…kid?"

And at that moment, Kristina's heart stopped. Not that she didn't expect it to happen but she had been hoping that the sheer pleasure of looking at a smokin' hot guy paying attention to her might cause a cardiac moment. Instead, she felt crushed because he didn't see her as a sexy hot thing at all, just a kid. A child, and not a woman. She prayed that the ground which led to the secret underground tunnels which snaked throughout PC and hid untold secrets would just open and swallow her up forever right now.

Dante and Lulu clearly missed the fact that Kristina was currently imploding inside while trying to paste a smile of indifference on her face.

"Nothing," she said, looking at the ground and hating herself for it.

He turned back to Lulu.

"Hey Lulu," he said, "You going to the bonfire at the waterfront tonight?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Is this an official gathering or is it another arson for insurance?"

After all, she was a Spencer. She had to ask.

"No, it's a real bonfire," he said, "There's going to be good music, some dancing and plenty of good booze."

She shrugged, looking at him sideways.

"Maybe…"

"If you do, I'll catch you there," he said, and looked at her.

"I'll…think about it," she said, "I can't promise anything."

He nodded and then after a while, remembered Kristina was there and then nodded at her with a, "see ya kid" before taking off.

Kristina shook her head and glared at Lulu but the other woman's head was turned as she started looking at the boutiques on the street for a good sale. All of a sudden, Kristina had lost her enthusiasm for shopping and felt a sudden urge to engage in homicide. Maybe she was her mother's daughter after all.

Alexis hugged Robin goodbye.

"Thanks for pledging your support," she said, "It means a lot to me."

Robin squeezed her hands.

"Stay strong," she said, "I will exonerate you of any murder charges and find the real killer."

Alexis sighed.

"Can you like turn back the clock so I don't have sex that I can't remember with the mayor?  
Robin shook her head sadly.

"I can't do that," she said, "Are you sure you don't remember everything?"

"It couldn't have been all that great if I forgot," Alexis said, "but the pictures don't lie unless I can prove that they might have been altered."

"I can check that out for you if you'd like."

Alexis' hopes rose.

"Do you think you can," she said, "It looks so much like me, it's scary."

Robin nodded.

"I'm the daughter of secret agents for a clandestine international organization," she said, "I didn't grow up without some of my parents' talents rubbing off on me."

Alexis exhaled in relief.

"Thank you Robin," she said, "I'm sure you'll do your best."

"If my efforts don't work, I can still contact Casey for his assistance," Robin said.

Alexis furrowed her brow.

"Isn't Casey your imaginary friend you had when you're a child?"

Robin shook her head vigorously.

"He's an alien from another planet," she said, "We haven't been in touch for a while but I can still call him on this ring…"

She showed Alexis a small band with a large stone that displayed the colors of the rainbow if you examined it closely.

"That's a pretty ring," Alex said, eying it with some skepticism, "but does it really work?"

"If I call him on it, he will come," Robin said, conviction ringing in her voice.

"Well…okay, I guess anything that will help…"

And with another hug, Robin left her with a basket of goodies to give her sustenance as she struggled to figure out what to do with her most recent crisis.

Kristina sighed as Lulu grabbed some dresses and went to the dressing room to try them on. She had looked through everything in the store but couldn't find anything that she liked or that suited her. And everything that looked so good on Lulu just wouldn't look as good on her. The clothes just seemed so…tame and Kristina was ready to wear something that defined her as someone ready to go just a little bit wild.

"Kristina, what are you doing here?"

She looked up and saw Sam enter the store with a gold card which meant that she had gotten back in Jason's good graces enough to have access to his collection of plastic. It's not like Sam ever had a real job. She had been a con artist of some form or another since she was a teenager. She had grown up with a father who had turned out to be anything but and a disabled brother who had disappeared up a flight of stairs one day and never returned.

She knew that she was supposed to love Sam like an older sister but after she read on the wall of the girls' bathroom in elementary school that Sam had done the horizontal with her step father and Molly's dad, she just had a little trouble doing that. She had heard rumors that Sam had lost a baby fathered by her own father and been included in Uncle Jax's collection of women. Like mother, like daughter? Maybe, but Kristina had no intention of winding up mirroring either one of them. Her sweet granny, Helena had been sending her regular emails assuring her that she could avoid the family curse if she just listened to her and took her advice. Helena had also told her to keep their correspondence a secret because her mother "just wouldn't understand".

"Kristina, how does this look?"

Kristina looked away from her skanky sister to take in Lulu wearing a frilly pink dress with blue ruffles. She wrinkled her nose, knowing she would never get caught in anything dead like that even if she had the cleavage which she fervently hoped she would wake up with tomorrow.

"It looks…okay," she said, noncommittally.

Sam frowned.

"It's fine on an older woman but it's not quite right for you Krissy."

Kristina nearly slapped her when she used that name.

"Whatever," she said, not wanting to get into it with Sam today.

Sam searched the rack for a suitable dress for Kristina and pulled out a long sleeved blue number that nearly made Kristina lose her lunch.

"This would look adorable on you," Sam said.

"I'm not interested in any of the dresses here," Kristina said, "I think I'll go look across the street."

"I'll take you Krissy," Sam said, "but first I have to wait for Jason to help me pick out my dress."

The vision of her sister waiting to put her hands on her man made Kristina quite mad.

"No thanks," she said, "I can go by myself."

Sam grabbed her arm but Kristina shook it off.

"You need an adult with you," Sam said.

"Good, then tell me when one gets here," Kristina said, as she slipped out of the store. She shook her head and walked to the boutique with the really cool clothes across the street, not even noticing that a man in disguise tailed her every move.


End file.
